Wardriving assessment across Mexico: Preparing for the 2026 World Cup
Kaspersky GReAT conducted a wardriving assessment across Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey to analyze public Wi-Fi infrastructure ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The study, focused on passive observation and infrastructure analysis, identified a significant number of wireless networks, primarily utilizing the IEEE 802.11 standard. A key finding was the prevalence of default SSID naming conventions, potentially revealing information about ISPs and network configurations.
The research, undertaken by Kaspersky GReAT, aimed to understand the wireless landscape in key World Cup host cities. The team utilized passive wireless reconnaissance techniques to collect data on SSIDs, router configurations, and security settings across a wide range of locations including stadiums, airports, tourist zones, and financial districts. A total of 84,588 signals and 69,473 unique SSIDs were recorded, with Mexico City accounting for the largest proportion (61.4%). The analysis highlighted the use of standard deployment patterns and the frequent reliance on default vendor settings, which could expose organizations to potential vulnerabilities. Notably, only a small percentage (0.0047%) of networks employed invisible SSIDs, while the majority (66%) utilized customized identifiers, though a significant portion (34%) retained default naming conventions.