Secure your WiFi connection as it may be misused by terrorists

December 12, 2010 05:35 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 03:24 am IST - New Delhi

BASIC RULE: Secure your Wi-Fi connectivity to prevent unknown hands to lay on. A file photo: P.V. Sivakumar

BASIC RULE: Secure your Wi-Fi connectivity to prevent unknown hands to lay on. A file photo: P.V. Sivakumar

A Navi Mumbai disc jockey was baffled and shocked when police came to his house on Tuesday night asking him about an Indian Mujahideen e-mail claiming responsibility for Varanasi blast.

The e-mail was sent by his unsecured WiFi connection, minutes after the blast. Later, it was found that his connection, which did not require a password, was hacked into by IM terrorists and used for the purpose.

He and his brother Nikhil were detained and questioned for hours.

According to cyber experts, one must secure his or her connection by keeping a password or any hacker can use it for wrong purpose, putting the subscriber in trouble.

“Terrorists do not have much time to crack passwords because security agencies immediately start investigating the terror attacks. So they use WiFi connections which are available to them easily,” Mumbai-based cyber expert Ashish Sharma told PTI.

He said laptops and many phones are WiFi enabled and if terrorists detect any unsecured connection, not requiring a password, they might send terror message by a recently procured e-mail ID and then leave the spot immediately.

An Indore-based programmer, who claims to have hacked into websites of many firms, said “There is a default security option in WiFi connections. The first step is to protect it with a password. Even do not allow any one to use your computer, because your system could be used to access others in the network area.”

To protect your WiFi connection, first install a software called ‘Firewall’ as it makes hacking difficult, he said, adding that people should always take help of cyber-security experts to secure the service.

He also said people should chose the connection from those service providers who have ISP (internet service provider) address.

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