Shostack + Friends Blog Archive

 

Real ID Even More Expensive Than Predicted

Bruce Schneier links to an AP article about the hideous costs of the RealID Act. Early estimates were for $120 million, current estimates are for $300 million for the first year alone, and that’s just for three states, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington state. So we can safely say that nationally we’re looking at billions of dollars just for the first year alone. Additionally, Washington and Virginia are estimating almost $110 million a year in recurring costs. The amount of money being spent on security theater is staggering. A shame this isn’t being spent on real security.