The Transportation Security Administration last week began testing automated boarding pass and ID verification machines

at Washington Dulles International Airport as part of a pilot of three "fraudulent document detection technology" units. TSA "in the coming weeks" also will test the technologies at Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Puerto Rico's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. BAE Systems Information Solutions, Trans-Digital Technologies and NCR Government Systems will furnish two units apiece for each pilot airport. Known as "Credential Authentication Technology - Boarding Pass Scanning Systems," the units "scan a passenger's boarding pass and photo ID and then automatically verify the names provided on both documents match and authenticate the boarding pass," according to TSA. "The technology also identifies altered or fraudulent photo IDs by analyzing and comparing security features embedded in the IDs."