Football’s 2010 World Cup has seen an unprecedented use of mobile communications. Fans visiting South Africa are leveraging the high availability of WiFi hot spots in the host country. However, WiFi users should exercise caution when making use of these services.
According to Symantec’s Con Mallon, the increase in mobile connectivity is bound to lead to an increase in phishing and viral attacks with unsecured WiFi networks being particularly vulnerable.
“Fans should not underestimate the danger as many will have vital personal information such as contact details, passport numbers, etc., stored on their mobile devices.”
“They should ensure that the hotspots that they connect to are valid, secure and encrypted as we’ve come across viral hotspots where criminals can monitor everything entered during a WiFi session,” he says.
Valid services will generally require both a user name and password. If possible, fans should be on the look out for virtual private networks (VPNs), which offer an increased level of protection.
All of the main stadiums offer WiFi services, as do many restaurants and pubs. “Fans,” Mallon says, “should also be wary when using Bluetooth as there’s always the possibility that criminals can eavesdrop on calls and even ‘hijack’ a device to make calls. This can prove to be very costly.”
He advises that the best defence here is simply to turn off Bluetooth when not using it or run it in stealth mode so other users cannot detect the device’s presence.
“Thankfully, to date, there is only a limited amount of malware that targets mobile devices, so if fans exercise caution, they can be reasonably sure of a secure WiFi experience,” Mallon says.