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The airport scanners that caused controversy when it was revealed that they produced near naked images of travellers have come under fire again as researchers have found they also failed to detect concealed weapons.

Researchers from top US universities suggest that the Rapiscan full-body scanner can be fooled by covering forbidden items with plastic sheets and under clothing.

The findings, which are to be announced at the Usenix security conference in San Diego, also suggest that the scanner's software can be hacked to present images at certain angles or to cover up certain sections of the body in ways that would be undetectable, the research scientists said.

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Professor Hovav Shacham, one of the lead researchers, pictured with with the Secure 1000 scanner

America's Transportation Safety Administration stopped using the scanner last year, after four years, following a public outcry that the machine produced what amounted to naked pictures of passengers.

However, the scanners are still in operation at some government facilities such as prisons, as well as airports in Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya.

The study's authors say that the original approval of the scanners casts doubt over the TSA's process for evaluating the technology it currently uses. 

The American authorities spent £600million ($1billion) installing them at 160 airports before they were finally removed last year. 

An image produced by the Rapiscan Secure 1000 full-body scanner. The red circle indicates where a handgun was tucked into this subject's waistband.

See through: How naked body scanners work

One of the study's lead authors, Alex Halderman, said: 'These machines were tested in secret, presumably without this kind of adversarial mindset, thinking about how an attacker would adapt to the techniques being used.'

'They might stop a naive attacker. But someone who applied just a bit of cleverness to the problem would be able to bypass them. And if they had access to a machine to test their attacks, they could render their ability to detect contraband virtually useless.'

The team of researchers conducted their tests on an Rapiscan Secure 1000 system they purchased on eBay. 

While the scanners are no longer in use at major airports, they are still in operation at some government facilities such as prisons, as well as airports in Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya

Many airports still use other devices by Rapiscan, including machines that scan carry-on luggage.
They found that a metal gun taped to the side of a person's body, or sewn into a trouser leg could be concealed. 

On its website, Rapiscan says: 'Deployed and tested in airports, as well as by law enforcement, homeland security and military organizations worldwide, Rapiscan Systems' family of Secure 1000 personnel screening products are the most proven, widely used and accepted advanced whole body imaging systems available today.

The team of researchers conducted their tests on an Rapiscan Secure 1000 system they purchased on eBay

'It has been approved for use by multiple regulators, including the US Transportation Security Administration and the United Kingdom Department for Transport. 

'The Secure 1000 can reveal threats concealed on a person's body that other technologies, such as metal detectors, cannot. 

'The Secure 1000 can reveal even very small quantities of liquid explosives, non-metallic weapons, and plastic explosives, making it ideal for aviation security applications.'

A spokesman for the TSA said the technology they use undergoes 'a rigorous testing and evaluation process, along with certification and accreditation.'  

The study was a joint effort of UCSD, the University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University.