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Introduction to cyber security: stay safe online
Introduction to cyber security: stay safe online

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2 Is your private information really private?

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We all hope that the information we send wirelessly is private, but is that always the case?

Channel 4 News was able to learn personal information about unsuspecting people by intercepting their, supposedly private, but in reality completely public, wireless internet signals.

The attack shown in the video was possible because the hackers had set up their own wi-fi hotspot that either advertised the name of a common wireless hotspot provider, or the users chose to connect to a ‘free’ wi-fi network. The lesson here is to be careful about the public wi-fi networks you connect to, and the types of information you access using these networks.