The past few months have seen an exponential growth in the number of terror attacks our country has faced. The most recent one being the Delhi Serial blasts, which claimed countless innocent lives. A recent trend amongst these home-brewed, tech-savvy terrorists have been the extensive use of the Internet for sending their propaganda filled e-mail messages to the media. The trend started with the Jaipur blasts earlier this year and has since then continued till the Delhi blasts. The modus operandi is simple: Tap into an unsecured Wi-Fi network and use it to send the mail across. The e-mails, usually originate from a web-mail services like Yahoo and Google where it is a breeze to sign up for a new ID.

To counter and "track" these e-mails the Government has planned a controversial bill that will enable "sniffing" of data sent across our Internal networks (i.e., at ISP levels). Earlier, this was possible only at international gateways. Our earlier report on this should be helpful in what this could mean to you.

OK for Big Brother to be watching us?

Keeping the security situation in mind, we ran two separate polls over the course of last week. The first one was where was asked people if they mind our security agencies reading their e-mails for the sake of national security. The question we asked was:

Do you think the Indian government has a right to read your email?
- Yes
- No
- Monitoring emails is a waste of resources

With the above three being the poll options.

Here are the results.

As much as 47% of the respondents think the Government has the right to "sniff" into your e-mails. Some of the comments posted in the article too reflect a similar stance. One fairly vocal comment was from Rev. Robert Mil, Oakland Ca, USA who says "Those of us, who believe in human rights and a democratic revolution of non-violence, believe as Mahatma Gandhi did... if you are relying on the power of truth, there can be no secrets, so we do not have anything to fear nor hide. So let them do all of their dirty work, the truth will prevail and the the human spirit of freedom will, in the end, be victorious."

Interesting comment -- but that is a global perspective and a tad more spiritual than what is expected from the standard tech-savvy individual.

Others opine that the Government is too focused on the e-mail sniffing part rather than preventing the bomb blasts in the first place.

Prasad from Hyderabad says, "Rather than searching Internet, e-mails, Orkut, mobile phone - SMS's and stuff, it is high time the country upgraded the intelligence agencies." Prasad also has a suggestion to the Government. "Why don't they just search the whole of India & issue an SSN and keep the people in Green, Orange & Red groups. The one with Green is safe with the Red group being the worst." While that does sound a nice idea up front, it does have the fatal flaw of segregating the people of India -- which is what we do not want in the first place!

A fairly large, 38% of the votes, thought it is completely wrong of the government to intrude into their personal spaces. A comment by Rex, from Bangalore sums it up quite well. In a reply to Rev. Robert Mills comment, Rex says, "Also remember the words of Cardinal Richlieu- 'Give me 5 words written by an honest man and I will find enough evidence to hang him'. You also have nothing to hide when you go to the toilet, or are making love. Are you OK with having surveillance cameras on you in the bedroom or toilet?"

That said, there is another section of people who thinks the Government is wasting its time "sniffing" e-mails. 14% of the votes went to this option. An anonymous user says, Instead of Wi-Fi, terrorists will simply use some other way to claim ownership of any blasts -- like dropping a note to a newspaper or a govt. office. I am ashamed at how our government can consider such foolish options. This does nothing to stop the bomb blasts!"

Security for convenience?

The other poll we ran last week was the one that asked people if they would sacrifice PC security for convenience. Here, there was a clear winner. It is heartening to know that people have started becoming more safety conscious these days. The results?

A vast majority -- as much as 75% of the voters thinks computer security should be of prime concern. The remaining 25% still think security is a "non-issue" and can be overlooked. In reponse to our article where we reported that the TRAI is set to issue fresh guidelines to ISPs with regards to the setting up and use of Wi-Fi networks, we had some interesting voices.

Vinay, from Mumbai says, "I live in Mumbai and have Wi-Fi at home (which since ages has been wpa2 encrypted) but what scares me is the fact that the line which comes to my place from the ISP is a CAT 5 cable+ switch LAN distribution system which is left unprotected on its route. Wouldn't it be easy for any one to clamp on to one of these links... packet sniff for a while... clone my MAC... even dig my PPPoE dialer password (if it's not CHAP) and use my credentials for sending a terror email?"

So is it the responsibility of the owner of the Wi-Fi network to ensure that it is protected? In a way, yes. However, the problem people face here is sheer ignorance. I am sure most people do not realize how crucial it is to ensure that their network is protected. Even if they are aware, they have issues setting it up. If you need guidance in securing your wireless network, you can also read up on the Techtree guide to securing your Wi-Fi network.
This is also where ISPs and service providers can pitch in. Instead of bringing in draconian legislations and issuing guidelines, the Government should work with the ISPs to help spread awareness about network security and if needed, help customers secure their networks.



What do you think is the most feasible solution to this problem? Do you believe it is OK if the government has the powers to "see" what you're doing online? Alternatively, do you have any suggestion that takes a middle path with the consumer and the Government getting a "fair" deal? Let us know by posting your opinions in the comments section below!