A security company for electronic devices based in London, conducted an experiment offering users free internet access at a central point of the city – Some users rushed to gain access «trading even their first child»…
The security company for electronic devices «F – Secure», which is based in the British capital, conducted a pioneering experiment in order to demonstrate to users that locations offering free wi fi are not secure for the data of smartphone owners or similar electronic devices.
The company officials installed in the Canary Wharf area of London, a location with many businesses, free wi‑fi, after first obtaining the relevant permit from the authorities. Within half an hour thirty‑three people rushed to connect to the internet, while six of them, apparently joking, said that they would «trade» even their first child, to have continuous free access at the spot.
The company's representative Sean Sullivan stated that hotspots are not as secure as users believe for their electronic devices, their e‑mail, and their passwords, and he noted that users wrongly consider internet cafés insecure for their personal data and consider the locations where free Wi‑Fi is provided to be safe.
Speaking about the experiment, Troels Oerting, Europol's representative for cybercrime, emphasized that some internet criminals exploit users' vulnerability for free internet access in order to “hack” their accounts or even worse, create their own hotspots!
The experiment on Wi‑Fi security in public areas was carried out by the company to promote its own «tool» mobile device security, it was conducted in the presence of a lawyer and when the experiment finished, the free network was turned off.
Source: protothema.gr
