Wi-Fi security concerns
Wireless networks are exposing the sensitive information of many surfers who don’t even realise that they are at risk, it has been warned.
At the Get Safe Online conference in London this morning, it was claimed that 7.8 million people in the UK have insecure home networks that anyone could use.
At the summit, a member of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) demonstrated how cybercriminals commit offences such as identity theft.
According to SOCA: “Criminals can use the network you are on to hijack your PC or laptop, meaning that they can see, steal, delete or even add files on your machine. They can do all of these things while you are using your PC without you even realising something is wrong.”
Cabinet Office Minister, Gillian Merron, moved to reassure the public that the threats were easy to prevent.
“The internet is a fantastic tool, whether you use it at home, in school, at your local library or at work. The risks we are highlighting today can be easily fixed and do not mean that people should stop using wireless networks. People simply need to take a few basic steps and simple precautions,” Merron said.
There were also warnings about the safety of social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.
Tony Neate, managing director of GetSafeOnline.org, said that of the 10.8 million people registered to social-networking sites in the UK, as many as a quarter had posted sensitive information, such as home addresses and telephone numbers on their profile pages.
“Although some of these details may seem harmless, they actually provide rich pickings for criminals. Your date of birth and where you live is enough for someone to set up a credit card in your name. So whilst most people wouldn’t give this information to a stranger in real life, they will happily post it online,” said Neate.
Get Safe Online is a government-backed initiative that has been running for three years.
Recently, the government was criticised by a House of Lords Select Committee for rejecting proposals put forward to increase the security of surfers in the UK.