Half of all Britons who access public WiFi hotspots do not know whether the WiFi network is secure or open when they connect to it via their smartphones, tablets or laptops – increasing their risk of identity theft, it is claimed.
An Experian Consumer Services WiFi Hotspots consumer survey of 1,641 adults in the UK also discovered that of those respondents accessing WiFi Hotspots:
• A third claimed to consider how secure a WiFi network is before connecting…
• … however half of respondents state that they do not understand whether a WiFi network is secure or open when they connect to it via their smartphones, tablets or laptops
• Almost two-thirds (63.5 per cent) use WiFi hotspots to access email
• One in ten (12.4pc) use WiFi hotspots for online banking
• 7.4pc use WiFi hotspots for work related activities
• Just 3pc connect to their work email via a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
• 58pc of respondents’ mobile devices connect automatically to available WiFi networks
Meanwhile a live experiment at six central London locations was undertaken to better understand WiFi network security levels in the capital city. Across these six locations, 36pc or a total of 322 WiFi Hotspots, were completely unsecure potentially giving access to possible identity fraudsters looking to misuse consumers’ unsecured personal information.
The Experian WiFi Hotspots survey reveals consumers are unsure about how to securely use WiFi hotspots, with near all, 96pc of mobile users accessing WiFi hotspots either not knowing or being unsure how to select the most secure settings on their mobile devices. Over a third of consumers (35pc) state that they would not connect to WiFi hotspots because of trust concerns.
Peter Turner, Managing Director of Experian Consumer Services UK&I, said: “WiFi services and the vast choice of mobile devices are empowering us to live more of our online lives whilst on the go. Whilst this brings many advantages, we still need to be wary of any public unsecure WiFi hotspots. Think of them like you would a public phone call. You would not openly discuss something personal or private if you thought people were listening, so don’t say it with your laptop, tablet or smartphone. By being blasé, we are all putting ourselves at risk of identity theft.”
Experian says that its web monitoring system, which scans forums where personal information is traded, highlights that the volume of personally identifiable information traded is constantly increasing – over 35 million pieces of data were traded online in 2012 alone and that figure was three times higher than in 2011. Fraud is often first detected through anomalies appearing on credit reports or, if financial loss has already been suffered, through bank statements. With the advent of web monitoring services, Experian adds, consumers can be be alerted if their personal details are being used or misused online so that they can take steps to identify and stop any suspicious activity before they become a victim of identity fraud.
Some steps that can help protect the data sent and received through open WiFi networks include:
• Don’t do it now if you can do it later. Really important tasks such as online banking should be done at home, using your secure home network.
• Turn off automatic connection to favourite or preferred networks on your devices. Remember, almost anyone can set up an open WiFi hotspot and so, a hacker only has to use a common network name for a fake hotspot, and you could be automatically connecting to it because the same name is in your preferred network list. Also, check with the venue’s employees to confirm the name of their network.
• Look for the lock icon to the left of the site’s URL in the address bar or check the URL for “https://” to see if the site uses SSL* (Secure Sockets Layer) if you’re entering sensitive personal information on a web page.
• Don’t use any apps if you don’t know whether they encrypt data. Depending on the apps you use on a device, you may be sharing personal information or logon details over WiFi that are not encrypted. One example of this is POP3 e-mail accounts. Your logon details may be shared, as well as your e-mails, completely unencrypted.
• Consider getting a personal VPN. Using a VPN provider can offer a way to protect your data as it travels over open WiFi connections.
People who think they have become victims of identity fraud should notify the police, contact their bank and check their credit report.
For further information go to www.experian.co.uk
