Cops scan Ahmedabad for Wi-Fi loopholes

AHMEDABAD: With Gujarat hosting a number of big-ticket events in January and February, the state police are leaving nothing to chance as far as security is concerned. They have been checking zones with high Wi-Fi density to ensure that they are not misused for any clandestine activities.
A team of the city crime branch's cyber cell has been visiting the public and private places to find out whether they had any security loopholes that could be exploited.The team visited Gandhi Ashram - one of the eight hotspots free for public in the city by a private service provider - on Sunday with the service providers to ascertain the security arrangements and the usage volume.
Cyber cell inspector Kiran Patel told TOI that various areas and institutions including Kankaria Lakefront and Civil Hospital are given the facility in partnership with the service provider. "At such spots, one can register with their email id and phone number. Our job was to ascertain how many use the facility and for what purpose. We also ascertained whether the company can get us the logs of the users and also the websites they visit. The checking is on. If any spot is found not having adequate security, it will be reported to the government agencies and service providers. Same applies to the private hotspots," he said.
The crime branch officials said that they are keeping a watch on the cyberspace ahead of the events such as Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit in the state. The city police will be on alert from this week with the start of Kankaria Carnival on December 25. It was in 2008 when the city cops experienced for the first time how the unprotected Wi-Fi connections can be used by terrorists.
Mahatma Mandir to be a big Wi-Fi zone
The state police sources said that the work is already on to convert the Mahatma Mandir, venue for a number of major events, and its periphery into high-speed Wi-Fi zone for the visitors. A private firm has been given the task whose team from Mumbai has started work on installation of the towers and required infrastructure. Police said that they are keeping an eye to ascertain its safety.