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Cyber terror has no security yet
Jul 16, 2009 (The Times of India - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
AHMEDABAD, India -- In November last year, days before the Mumbai terror attacks, the Gujarat police took Mansoor Peerbhoy, the terror e-mailer of 26/7 and his accomplices, Salman Khan and Mubin Shaikh on a tour in the city and saw how they hacked 24 WiFi connections, including IIM-A and Gujarat University.
The email sent by Indian Mujahideen (IM) five minutes before the July 26 bombings were from a US national Kenneth Haywood's WiFi connection. Subsequent revelation showed that the media wing of IM headed by Peerbhoy had earlier done a recce of these vulnerable cyber-connectivity zones before shooting the email. Similarly, three other mails were shot from Khalsa College and industrial units in Sanapada and Chembur in Mumbai.
Going by cyber security experts, there are more than 500 unsecured WiFi connections in Ahmedabad, even now. Security experts have also expressed concerns over web applications that can encrypt data and send it to the receiver and Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications that can be used for further terror attacks. Police officials admit that these systems are a favourite among extremist and terrorist groups, because these leave confusing footprints.
Sunny Vaghela, a city-based cyber crime expert, who aided city crime branch in the 26/7 investigations, took a random tour of the city at TOI's behest and found over 30 connections open.
"I and my team visited various spots from Ashram Road to Ambawadi and Nehrunagar to find many vulnerable connections through which I could send an encrypted mail. Being a dynamic ID, I can create a fake email ID, send a terror mail and then disappear, without a trace," he said.
Vaghela added that WiFi connections are frequently used by offices and homes where more than one computer is connected through a common router. "However, working on it without proper precaution can invite trouble. Even in daily life, if a hacker is expert enough, he can use your system to surf the net for free!" he said.
Experts said internet telephony or VoIP is a developing science and has not come into the purview of legality. "Terrorists exploited it to its fullest during Mumbai attacks. You can tape the conventional phones and now even GSM and CDMA phones with arrangements with service providers. In internet telephony, your provider is sitting abroad and you have no idea about who is using it," said a security expert from Gujarat.
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