Wi-fi users largely insecure

According to its research, 37 per cent of wi-fiers it asked said they have used networks belonging to unknown businesses or residents nearby, even though they knew they may be exposing themselves to the risk that their data could be intercepted.

While 77 per cent of respondents used anti-virus software and 72 per cent used a firewall, only eight per cent encrypted their data and only 14 per cent used a secure, encrypted link to the internet.

"Identity theft is a growing crime and our survey shows that wi-fi users are putting themselves at risk unnecessarily," says Aston Fallen, CEO, Steganos. "Through the personal and work emails and the ecommerce activities that people undertake, they risk revealing personal information that could be used to steal their identities. Using strong encryption to protect data in transit is the only approach that is guaranteed to defend wi-fi users. Even if data is intercepted, criminals will not be able to decode it and exploit it."

Spookily enough, Steganos makes encrytption software. µ

L'INQ
www.steganos.com