ONLY 23 of a list of 65 wireless access points of big New Kingston Firms were accessible yesterday, a day after the Observer reported vulnerabilities in their security networks which could prove easy access for potential hackers.

The Observer has confirmed that at least one of the firms – Grace Kennedy Remittance Services (GKRS) – has shut down its wireless access network or local area network (LAN).

“We have made a decision to suspend all wireless access because our Mac address has been published worldwide and it might just attract someone’s attention,” said the company’s technical support manager Troy McInnis.

But he said that “seeing” the network does not mean someone could actually get onto it and made it clear that the network was separate from that of Western Union’s.

“Seeing it does not mean you can get onto it because the nature of wireless dictates that there will be a broadcast,” he explained. “It is just the local area network within the office and has nothing to do with Western Union. It’s not a Western Union network and does not constitute getting onto the Western Union network, which is totally secure and separate.”

On Sunday, the Observer reported that it was easy to identify the wireless access points of some firms in New Kingston, with the aid of a laptop that is configured with a wireless card and free downloadable software.

Aside from GKRS, other companies which showed vulnerabilities included the Jamaica Deposit Insurance Limited, Great Vacations Limited, the Courtleigh Hotel and the Hilton Hotel.

Yesterday, Descartes Blackwood of the Hilton Hotel said hacking its local area would not compromise its main network.

“It is separate from the network we keep main files on, and though it is hosted by us it is not fully administered by us since a third party is involved in the form of an Internet Service Provider,” the hotel’s information systems manager told the Observer.

Blackwood added that the hotel’s main network is secure and could not, in any way, be accessed wirelessly.

“The local area network has a separate server, switches, and even cable, and does not cross with the main network in any way,” he noted.

“The main network is much more secure than the guest network and can’t be accessed wirelessly because there is no Internet for the main network.”