Significant Number of Unsecured Wireless Networks in Mumbai: KPMG Report

• Staggering number of around 28000 wireless networks covered during wireless survey in Mumbai
• Around 9500 (34%) networks with either no or limited protection that could be easily  compromised with 4700 of these  networks with no protection at all
• Around 5000 wireless networks having default network name settings which makes them vulnerable to compromise
• Around 2900 (60%) of all business wireless networks* having either no or limited protection that could be easily be compromised with 1600 of these networks having no protection at all
• Around 4900 (48%) of all home wireless networks* having either no or limited protection that could be easily be compromised with 1700 of these networks having no protection at all

* These were identified by subjective analysis of their network names.

As part of the ongoing Mumbai Police initiative for the Cyber Safety Week, KPMG conducted a wireless security survey in May. Today, at the inauguration of the Cyber Safety Week, KPMG released the results of this survey. The survey was aimed at identifying the security risks in a wireless network environment in Mumbai.

According to the survey, though a large number of networks in Mumbai are protected, a significant number of them exist with either no or limited protection that can be easily compromised.  Many of these networks do not have baseline security measures implemented such as changing default manufacturer device names, use of strong encryption mechanisms and passwords etc.

The key findings for the survey are:

• Staggering number of around 28000 wireless networks covered during WarDriving in Mumbai
• Around 9500 (34%) networks with either no or limited protection that could be easily be compromised with 4700 of these  networks with no protection at all
• Around 5000 wireless networks having default network name settings which makes them vulnerable to hackers
• Around 2900 (60%) of all business wireless networks* having either no or limited protection that could be easily be compromised with 1600 of these networks having no protection at all
• Around 4900 (48%) of all home wireless networks* having either no or limited protection that could be easily be compromised with 1700 of these networks having no protection at all

* These were identified by subjective analysis of their network names.

“The number of Wireless Networks in Mumbai has shown exponential growth.  While there has been growing awareness of wireless security, the number of vulnerable wireless networks that can be potentially misused, are significant in number. It was surprising to find that a large number of business wireless networks were unsecured. We should try to secure every wireless network as a chain is as strong as its weakest link.” said Nitin Khanapurkar, Executive Director, KPMG in India.

Vijay Mukhi, the noted IT Security expert pointed out, “Wireless security is important from a national security perspective. We cannot allow our networks to be abused by anti-social and anti-national forces. We need to support the Mumbai Police on this initiative as it is a matter of national importance.”

Some of the major risks of vulnerable wireless networks include unauthorized access to objectionable or banned sites, access to post objectionable material on websites, send threatening emails, extract bank account details causing monetary losses etc.