Wardriving assessment across Mexico: Preparing for the 2026 World Cup

In the lead-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Kaspersky GReAT experts conducted a wardriving assessment in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara to evaluate Wi-Fi hotspot security configurations and potential exposure risks.

Introduction Mexico is one of the host countries for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with matches to be played in three major cities: Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. These locations are expected to see a large influx of international visitors, increasing the potential security risks. Many of those risks arise from users connecting to public wireless networks. To better understand the wireless environments that visitors may encounter, we at Kaspersky GReAT conducted a wardriving assessment in the three host cities.

The aim of the study was to analyze characteristics, deployment patterns, security configurations and potential exposure risks of public Wi-Fi infrastructure in urban wireless environments. The information collected during the assessment was used exclusively for passive observation and infrastructure analysis. No attempts were made to authenticate, intercept communications, exploit systems or interact with the detected wireless networks beyond the publicly broadcast management information.

During processing of the collected data, one step involved filtering out networks belonging to cars or cell phones categorized as mobile hotspots because they do not represent networks that can be considered part of the assessment. Research scope The cities included in the study have high population density and extensive wireless infrastructure deployments. We chose areas with the most prominent wireless network activity and highly concentrated public access points. We carried out wardriving research in Monterrey back in 2008, but the city’s hotspot landscape has changed since then.

We chose the following analysis areas for each of the cities: Mexico City: México City Stadium, Mexico City International Airport, Zócalo, Paseo de la Reforma, Colonia Roma, La Condesa, Polanco, and Coyoacán. Guadalajara: Guadalajara Stadium, Guadalajara International Airport, the city center, Zapopan, Providencia, Avenida Chapultepec, Colonia Americana, Tlaquepaque, and the area around Andares. Monterrey: Monterrey Stadium, Monterrey International Airport, Fundidora Park, Cintermex Monterrey, the downtown area, Barrio Antiguo, MacroPlaza, and the San Pedro financial district.

The wireless information was collected using passive wireless reconnaissance techniques. The collected information included: SSID analysis and information exposure, including BSSID-derived SSIDs Default router configurations and ISP deployments Frequency and signal characteristics Channel congestion and spectrum usage Wireless security configurations, including: Open and insecure wireless networks WPS-enabled networks Secure networks (WPA2/WPA3) with WPS enabled We performed a wireless infrastructure analysis in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey.

We drove through the areas surrounding the World Cup stadiums, tourist zones, and other places where fan concentrations are likely to be largest.