Colleges wake up to wi-fi threat

A day after the ATS traced the threat e-mail of the Indian Mujahideen, city colleges have woken up to the threat posed by unsecured Internet and wi-fi connections, reports Presley Thomas & Snehal Rebello.

A day after the ATS traced the fifth threat e-mail of the Indian Mujahideen — sent to media houses — to Matunga’s Khalsa College, city colleges have woken up to the threat posed by unsecured Internet and wi-fi connections.

HT Image

Ajit Singh, principal of Khalsa College, told HT: “We will upgrade the cyber security of our computer lab.” However, he doesn’t suspect it is the work of a student.

With most degree colleges, engineering colleges and B-schools equipped with wi-fi facilities on campuses, heads of institutions are trying to work out a solution. Professor Sudhir Panse, chief administrative officer at the Institute of Chemical Technology, said: “Though we have been conducting workshops on cyber crimes for our faculty, we will now take more steps towards cyber security since computers are available to students as well.”

“In the light of what has happened, we are definitely reworking our Internet security. We are studying the details and also talking to our in-house IT professionals,” said N.M. Kondap, vice-chancellor, NMIMS University.

Ruia College, in Matunga, has wi-fi networks in the library. “We definitely need more internal security and are going to talk to our computer experts about increasing it,” said principal Suhas Pednekar.