India - Wireless Internet comes in handy for terrorists

Mumbai: With the latest terror e-mail sent before the Delhi blasts on Saturday, the kitty of such e-mails is only expanding for the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). The senders of these mails are still unknown and at large.
Terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen, an offshoot of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), reportedly sent the e-mail to television channels from the address al_arbi_delhi@yahoo.com. It was traced to a firm in Chembur, Mumbai.
Investigations are on and the ATS is collaborating with other agencies. This is about all that the ATS can reveal at the moment. “A large number of people have been deployed and several people are being questioned. But I cannot reveal anything else to the media, except what is in public interest,” said ATS chief Hemant Karkare.
Breaching unsecured wireless Internet connections has become the modus operandi of the Indian Mujahideen to send e-mails. In previous instances traced to Mumbai, the Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks of American national Kenneth Haywood and Khalsa College, Matunga, Mumbai, were hacked. With many unsecured connections in the city, hacking into them appears to be very easy — and tracking such incidents just as difficult.
The network of the Mumbai firm was also not secured. Its owner, who wished to remain anonymous, has been instructed by the police not to give any statements to the media. He owns two laptops and two desktops.
Investigating officials analysed his machines on Saturday night, but have not taken possession of the hard disks. It is learnt that signals are received as far as a hundred yards away.
Meanwhile, Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqueer, believed to be the author of the terror e-mail sent before the Ahmedabad blasts, remains untraceable.
e-mails so far
A terror e-mail was sent before the Jaipur blasts in May 2008 from a cyber cafe in Ghaziabad. In July 2008, mails were sent before and after the Ahmedabad blasts. One was traced to Kenneth Haywood’s Navi Mumbai address and the other to an IP address in Vadodara. Both, Jaipur and Gujarat e-mails were signed ‘Guru al-Hindi.’
In August, a stray terror e-mail was traced to the city’s Khalsa College. The Indian Mujahideen is believed to be the sender.
Wi-Fi networks cover a limited area of about 65 sq.km. ranging from a room or building to a few hotspots. Some Wi-Fi access points like cyber cafes, coffee shops and libraries are also called hot spots. The user has to be in close proximity to access points to connect to the Net.