Wireless Broadband Hijacking On The Rise

Tag : Wireless
With all major providers now providing a wireless router with theirpackages, wireless broadband is becoming increasingly popularleaving Brits open to piggybacking, according to research frommoneysupermarket.com.

Piggybacking is where broadband users connect to someone elseswireless router to gain access to the Internet for free, with thepotential to steal bank details, identity information or evendownloading illegal content through the owners connection.

The research shows over 3.5 million adults (11%) have used someoneelses wireless Internet connection without permission in the past12 months. The results also show people are doing little to protectthemselves, with one in six (16%) failing to put a password ontheir connection. James Parker, commercial manager for broadbandand mobiles at moneysupermarket.com, said: One in nine peopleusing another persons Wi-Fi is a staggering amount, you wouldntexpect that many people to go into a neighbours house and usetheir shower. This is a worrying trend and shows some people haveno conscience when sitting in front of their monitor behind closeddoors.

The consequences can be severe. Its bad enough your neighbourscan use your Internet connection freely, but this becomes far morethreatening if someone uses your connection for criminal orimproper activity. This could be accessing your Internet connectionto download obscene material, gathering personal information todefraud you or even stealing your identity.

Its not just security risks people face as 37% of broadband dealsimpose a download cap, which could mean additional charges if thelimit is exceeded. Of those who admit to piggybacking nearly half(46%) say they check e-mails and do some browsing and anunrelenting 12% hijack someone elses wireless connection everyday, downloading films and music regularly.

Parker added: If people arent careful, they could unwittinglyfind a huge bill landing on their doorstep for going over thedownload cap imposed by their provider. More and more providersoffer routers with broadband packages and the range of the signalis increasing. People need to be aware just how importantprotection is and the best way to do it. People are learning to besafe online but those using wireless can undo all that by leavingtheir network unprotected. An unsecured Internet connection is justthe same as leaving your front door open.

To beat the broadband pirates you should make sure youre doing thefollowing: Password protect your wireless Internet connection withnon-dictionary words and numbers; check that your router uses WPArather than WEP encryption; know your download limit and what thattranslates to (i.e. 5 music albums); make sure you have appropriatesecurity software and firewall; if you have children, considerusing parental controls as well as password protection for therouter.