Mumbai police to locate unsecured Wi-Fi spots

Mumbai: Supported by a group of citizens led by Mumbai's sheriff Indu Shahani, the Mumbai police has begun a combing operation to find unsecured Wi-Fi networks at complexes, malls, office buildings and residential premises in south and south-central Mumbai, with the aim of getting the owners of the networks to secure them.

Unsecured Wi-Fi networks of various people and organisations were used to send terror emails before the Delhi and Ahmedabad serial blasts.
An email before the Ahmedabad blasts was traced back to the residence of a US national Kenneth Haywood in Navi Mumbai, while another sent prior to the Delhi blast was traced back to the unsecured Wi-Fi network of Chembur-based Kamran Powers Control Pvt Ltd.

Reports suggested that Mumbai currently has an estimated 30,000 or more unsecured or anonymous Wi-Fi connections. The drive by the citizen's group and the Mumbai police is aimed at finding these connections and educating citizens about the importance of securing their wi-Fi internet connections.

The Business Standard quoted Mumbai Police additional commissioner K Venktesan as saying that if the Wi-Fi connection in a particular place "is not password protected or secured then the policemen accompanying the squad will have the authority to issue a notice to the owner of the connection directing him to secure it."

It said that the police would be able to issue a notice under section 149 of the Criminal Procedure Code to anyone found not securing their Wi-Fi connection and user may face criminal investigations.

Around 80 police personnel are reported to have trained to become conversant with Wi-Fi connections and cyber crime, and will use laptops and Wi-Fi enabled mobile phones for the awareness campaign. The campaign would target residences, schools, colleges and corporate houses during the first phase, starting at Bandra-Kurla Complex and the residential areas of Malabar Hill.