Tuesday’s terror e-mail was similar to ones sent in 2008

Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal said the threateing e-mail sent after the Varanasi blast was similar to the series of e-mails sent in 2008. “Then too the senders used unsecured wi-fi connections,” Dayal said.

Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal said the threateing e-mail sent after the Varanasi blast was similar to the series of e-mails sent in 2008. “Then too the senders used unsecured wi-fi connections,” Dayal said.

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A similar e-mail was sent on September 19 this year too, but it was sent from a mobile phone.

In 2008, the Indian Mujahideen sent e-mails either warning of an attack minutes before bombs went off or to threaten the police (August 24). The mail sent on August 24, 2008, was sent moments after the Gujarat police claimed a breakthrough in the serial blasts that rocked the state on July 26.

In October 2008, the Crime Branch busted the cell behind these e-mails, arresting 20 Indian Mujahideen operatives.

“If those who use wi-fi connections are more careful, they would save themselves and us a lot of trouble,” said an officer on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Despite several cases of wi-fi networks being hacked into, users remain careless. “They are educated, but still don’t understand the risk of keeping their connections unsecured,” said the officer. Users either fail to change their passwords regularly or use ones that are easy to guess.

“Once a router is left unsecured, the user is vulnerable because anyone can plant a virus or malware in their system,” said Dayal.