Mumbai Police launches Wi-Fi security drive

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police is undertaking a massive move to crack down
unsecured Wi-Fi connections and networks in the city. The move comes after last
year's two major terror incidents including the Ahmedabad serial blasts and
Mumbai attacks, where the terrorists had used Internet and communication
networks in their operations.

The drive will start at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), the business hub located
in the western-central city suburb, followed by residential areas at Malabar
Hill, south Mumbai.

As part of this move, an 80-member Mumbai Police officers' team armed with
gadgets and equipment including laptops, Internet enable mobile phones and
devices will visit residences randomly across the city to detect unsecured
Internet networks.

During the Ahmadabad serial blasts investigation, it found that terrorist
outfit Indian Mujahideen had allegedly intercepted and hacked the computer of
Kenneth Haywood, a US citizen residing in Sanpada, a Mumbai suburb.

In another incident, an unsecured Wi-Fi network from Chembur based Kamran
Powers Control Private Limited was used by terrorists for posting emails after
the New Delhi blasts on September 13, 2008.

Also, a Wi-Fi network was traced from Mumbai's Khalsa College, where an email
was sent to a media house by members of IM and had threatened to kill police
officers involved in the investigation.

"It's an awareness campaign, where the police officials will educate the
users about security aspect of WiFi networks. And the officer's team will visit
homes, schools, colleges and offices to check unsecured networks," Sanjay Mohite,
Deputy Commissioner of Mumbai Police informed media.

He added that such unsecured networks and unprotected IP addresses are
misused by terror outfits and other cyber criminals.