The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines light 370 has laid bare serious fl aws in passenger identity procedures amid what has become a booming world market in stolen and counterfeit passports. These problems are sizable and deserve remedial attention for the risks they present to traveling.

Two of the passengers on the Malaysian jet were found to have used stolen passports. This was a fact confirmed only after the plane’s disappearance, once a check was made against an Interpol database created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that contains more than 40 million missing and suspect travel documents.

nfortunately, Interpol authorities said that only three countries — the nited States, Britain and the nited Arab Emirates — systematically screen travelers before they board a plane against that database of stolen passports. While there is no evidence that the two men had links to terrorist groups, the investigation into the plane’s disappearance underscores how easily false identities can be acquired in global black markets and then used in illicit travel. The two men used passports stolen from European tourists in Thailand on the resort island of Phuket, where law enforcement officials said travel documents are easily obtained from criminal rings. Southeast Asia has become a hub for identity crime, officials say. Thai authorities confirmed 60,000 passports were reported missing in an 18-month period ending in June.

Officials in Washington say vulnerabilities in passport security are routinely overlooked by governments and airlines and extend well beyond Asia. They cited the theft and forgery of passports in Belgium even a decade ago that helped some terrorists travel freely.

More than one billion passengers boarded planes last year without being checked against the database, which Interpol officials say is inexpensive and far from cumbersome to use. It is imperative that more nations regularly consult this resource if the travel precautions attempted after 11 are to be credible and effective.