When I am out and about, I try not to use WiFi just anywhere. If required, I will use the Instant Hotspot feature which is part of the larger Continuity feature set that is built into OS X Yosemite and iOS 8.1 to get online. The reason being is that just because WiFi is open and available, it doesn’t mean that you should use it.
Gustav Nipe, president of Sweden’s Pirate Party’s youth wing illustrated this recently. During the Sälen security conference, he set up a WiFi hotspot named “Öppen Gäst” (“Open Guest”) without any kind of encryption. In short order, a large amount of unsuspecting high profile guests associate with the network. According to Nipe, he was able to track which sites people visited as well as the emails and text messages of around 100 delegates, including politicians and journalists as well as security experts. Here’s what he had to say on the matter:
“The security establishment was in Sälen pushing for more surveillance, but then leading figures go and log on to an unsecure W-Fi network,” he told The Local.
“It is very embarrassing because the data we collected showed that some people were looking at Skype, eBay and Blocket and stuff like that, or looking for holidays and where you could go and hike the forest. This was during the day when I suppose they were being paid to be at the conference working.”
Well, that’s a wee bit embarrassing. But this comment shows what the real danger is:
“The scary part is that with unsecure networks like these you can end up getting access even to secure servers because people so often use the same passwords for different sites. So we could have got into the government’s server or used other information to track people in their everyday lives.”
He says that he won’t be revealing which sites were visited by specific experts. But he has already sparked criticism in Swedish newspapers and on social media, with some angry comments saying that Nipe breached Sweden’s Personal Data Act. So this could end badly for him personally, but it does highlight the risks of using just any open WiFi hotspot.
Consider yourselves warned.
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This entry was posted on January 16, 2015 at 9:18 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Privacy, WiFi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Here’s One Big Reason Why You Shouldn’t Use Just Any Open WiFi. Your Activities Can Be Easily Monitored.
When I am out and about, I try not to use WiFi just anywhere. If required, I will use the Instant Hotspot feature which is part of the larger Continuity feature set that is built into OS X Yosemite and iOS 8.1 to get online. The reason being is that just because WiFi is open and available, it doesn’t mean that you should use it.
Gustav Nipe, president of Sweden’s Pirate Party’s youth wing illustrated this recently. During the Sälen security conference, he set up a WiFi hotspot named “Öppen Gäst” (“Open Guest”) without any kind of encryption. In short order, a large amount of unsuspecting high profile guests associate with the network. According to Nipe, he was able to track which sites people visited as well as the emails and text messages of around 100 delegates, including politicians and journalists as well as security experts. Here’s what he had to say on the matter:
Well, that’s a wee bit embarrassing. But this comment shows what the real danger is:
“The scary part is that with unsecure networks like these you can end up getting access even to secure servers because people so often use the same passwords for different sites. So we could have got into the government’s server or used other information to track people in their everyday lives.”
He says that he won’t be revealing which sites were visited by specific experts. But he has already sparked criticism in Swedish newspapers and on social media, with some angry comments saying that Nipe breached Sweden’s Personal Data Act. So this could end badly for him personally, but it does highlight the risks of using just any open WiFi hotspot.
Consider yourselves warned.
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This entry was posted on January 16, 2015 at 9:18 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Privacy, WiFi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.