Victor EzejaUsing free WiFi in public places may appear to be a Greek Gift (seeming pleasant but harmful in disguise) to users.
An information security expert, David Dada, has warned that it is dangerous for people to access the Internet by logging in through an unsecured connection in public places with their devices.
Dada, who appeared on Channels Television Sunrise Daily on Monday, disclosed that the users may be unknowingly exposing their important details such as bank transactions and passwords to cyber fraudsters, who monitor the connection system.
Dada, who is the President of DTCoop.nig said: “If you are doing online transactions, the first thing you need to consider is if you are using unsecured WiFi, a lot of your transactions have been spoofed by someone else, and somebody else is watching what you are doing.
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“You go to the supermarket, you go to the airport, you go to public places and you see unsecured WiFi and you decide to log in. The moment you log on to that, it is very dangerous.”
The ICT expert said he could set up what he called an “evil twin network” and make it free and that anyone who gets access to it would end up giving up something in exchange without knowing.
He said that when people use free WiFi they are paying for it unknowingly, as sensitive information in their gadgets is extracted without their knowledge.
“When you see free WiFi, you are actually paying for it in a way. I give you free internet but I am going to take your information.
“I am gonna take your passwords, your username, and tokens and I will store it somewhere. You get off my network, I go somewhere and pick all the things in your bank accounts and I go home and you can’t trace me anywhere,” the digital expert stated.
He explained that despite the kind of security platform in a user’s mobile device, once they use free WiFi they leave their digital footprints in the system.
“The moment you get onto that free WiFi, you have excluded all security for your phone, so it is safer to stay away from it,” the ICT consultant said.
He made this clarification while responding to the issue of what causes unauthorized access to people’s accounts in electronic financial platforms and the measures they need to take to avoid it.
He also advised that people should be careful about giving out their information such as account details.
He also warned about clicking anyhow on links sent to them through text messages, Facebook WhatsApp or other social media platforms to avoid their phones being hacked through a spyware that monitors it.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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