Finally the Goa cyber cell has woken up and decided to clamp down on establishments offering unsecured WiFi. However what is interesting to note is according to SP Karthik Kashyap who recently said that open WiFi should be password-protected. But according to Indian national security cyber laws, having a password protected WiFi which you give to your customers anyway is not enough. You should have a proper hotspot system in place. According to notification no 842-2005-VAS issued by the Govt of India, Ministry of Telecommunication & IT states that the provider needs to have bulk login IDs and every customer that is provided WiFi has to be given a unique ID and password which do not have simultaneous multiple logins.
Also a photocopy of the customers ID has to be retained or the ID password has to be sent via SMS for authentication.
Every establishment especially on the coastal belt has been offering free WiFi by just having a single ID Password for everyone connected to their network, which is a gross violation and a threat to national security.
Bernard Lobo, Benaulim
