Some 78 per cent of people who regularly use public Wi-Fi connections while out and about are happy to rely mainly on free hotspots, new research from Ofcom shows.
In its latest Communications Market Report, the telecoms regulator says that just 12 per cent of Brits actively look for connection points related to their own home broadband accounts. More than a quarter (27 per cent) use hotspots linked to their mobile contracts, computerweekly.com reports.
The popularity of open Wi-Fi suggests that consumers aren’t particularly concerned about the security risks that many pose.
After being questioned about their attitudes towards web safety, 77 per cent said they didn’t think about security when connecting to public hotspots. Three quarters also said they’re happy to access any page and carry out all of their normal activities while using a free connection.
Mark James, a specialist at security firm ESET, suggested people should take more care when using their internet-capable devices.
He was quoted by cyberparse.co.uk as saying: “Free Wi-Fi is free Wi-Fi, whether it’s secure or not. The general reaction these days is, if the phone connects to it, then I am good to go. Sadly the public have no conception of how potentially bad insecure Wi-Fi can be.”
Security concerns among 3G and 4G users are even lower, the report shows. A staggering 85 per cent of respondents said they don’t think about safety when they connect outside of the home.
