Believe it or not, Apple's iPad tablets are at the center of a completely unexpected move by the US and UK governments. More precisely, the intelligence services of these countries would have discovered plans by some terrorists who wanted to use fake iPad tablets to carry out attacks on air travel.
It seems that the terrorists would have found methods by which they would have created fake iPad tablets, or would have modified existing ones, to include explosives inside them. Intelligence agencies discovered at least one plan to be implemented using what appeared to be iPad tablets, so tablets, laptops and other gadgets were banned from being carried on flights from some Middle Eastern countries to USA and Great Britain.
It seems that the terrorists tried to hide explosives in shoes or underwear, but these attempts failed, so they thought of using iPad tablets. It is hard to say how they could have passed the security points with fake iPad tablets without the explosive being discovered, but the Americans and the British don't want to risk it.
The prohibition to take these gadgets on planes for those countries is made especially for those who board with hand luggage. The terrorists intended to detonate the bombs on the plane after buying tickets with window seats, an explosion at that point having the greatest chance of destroying the fuselage so that the plane would crash.
“[One factor was] the discovery of a plot to bring down a plane with explosives hidden in a fake iPad that appeared as good as the real thing. Other details of the plot, such as the date, the country involved and the group behind it, remain secret. Discovery of the plot confirmed the fears of the intelligence agencies that Islamist groups had found a novel way to smuggle explosives into the cabin area in carry-on luggage after failed attempts with shoe bombs and explosives hidden in underwear."
Fake iPad tablets can be bought very easily from China, or from other Asian countries, so terrorists can easily obtain such items, the main problem being boarding the plane with them full of explosives.
