Airports At Greater Risk Of Common Wi-Fi Scam

Analysis of 34 major UK airports reveals that 53% fail to make the name of their Wi-Fi network clear to customers online.

Cybersecurity experts warn holidaymakers risk falling victim to an ‘Evil Twin attack’ if they unknowingly connect to a bogus Wi-Fi network.

Šarūnas Karbauskas of VPNPro shares his top tips for staying safe when using airport Wi-Fi networks.

Holidaymakers have been warned over using airport Wi-Fi networks to transfer money, stream movies and share personal information, as they jet off this October half-term.

Cybersecurity experts at VPNPro conducted an analysis on 34 of the UK’s busiest airport websites, to determine which ones clearly state the correct name of their Wi-Fi network to customers.

When considering each airport’s website, a staggering 53%, or 18 out of the 34 airports analysed, did not verify the actual name of the airport’s Wi-Fi network on their site, leaving travellers at a greater risk of connecting to malicious network while they wait to board.

Among the offenders were Edinburgh Airport, Birmingham International Airport, Bristol Airport and Humberside Airport.

	UK Airport
1.	Edinburgh Airport
2.	Birmingham International Airport
3.	Bristol Airport
4.	Belfast International Airport
5.	Belfast City Airport
6.	Cardiff Airport
7.	Inverness Airport
8.	Glasgow Prestwick Airport
9.	Exeter Airport
10.	Norwich Airport
11.	Sumburgh Airport
12.	Newquay Airport
13.	Teesside International Airport
14.	City of Derry Airport
15.	Kirkwall Airport
16.	Stornoway Airport
17.	Humberside Airport
18.	Dundee Airport

List of UK airports which clarified the name of their Wi-Fi network on their website:

1.	London Heathrow Airport	_Heathrow Wi-Fi
2.	London Gatwick Airport	Free Gatwick Wi-Fi
3.	Manchester Airport	_FreeWifi
4.	London Stansted Airport	_FreeWifi
5.	London Luton Airport	Luton Airport WIFI
6.	Glasgow Airport	Glasgow_Airport_WiFi
7.	Newcastle International Airport	_NCLFreeWiFi
8.	Liverpool John Lennon Airport	LJLA-Free-WiFi
9.	Leeds Bradford Airport	LeedsBradfordAirport_Free_WiFi
10.	East Midlands Airport	_FreeWifi
11.	London City Airport	LCY Airport Free Wi-Fi
12.	Aberdeen International Airport	Aberdeen_Airport_WiFi
13.	Bournemouth Airport	BOH Public Wifi
14.	Southampton Airport	Southampton_Airport_WiFi
15.	London Southend	London Southend Free WiFi
16.	Land's End Airport	Skybus Free WiFi

Tips for staying safe on airport Wi-Fi networks

Mr Karbauskas, has outlined his top tips for staying safe when using airport Wi-Fi networks, so that holidaymakers can reduce the risk of revealing their personal information to cybercriminals.

1. Verify the Wi-Fi connection

If you need to connect to airport Wi-Fi, ask a member of staff if you are about to connect to a legitimate connection, as cybercriminals often imitate Wi-Fi hotspots in order to intercept sensitive data.

As mentioned above, hackers will often create a fake Wi-Fi hotspot using the airport’s name or something enticing such as ‘Free_Airport_Wi-Fi' to hoodwink customers into connecting to their bogus network, before then snooping on their web activity.

2. Enable your device’s Firewall

Most modern laptops come with a built in Firewall, which shields your computer from malicious network traffic and helps prevent unauthorised access to your laptop.

For Windows 11 users, your laptop’s Firewall should be automatically enabled. To check it is enabled go to: Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Windows Security > Firewall & network protection > Windows Security settings. Then ensure that it is enabled for Domain network, Private network, and Public network.

For Mac OS users the Firewall isn’t always enabled as standard. To enable this, go to: System Settings > Network > Firewall > Click the toggle to enable.

3. Enable HTTPS only mode

When online, make sure there is a padlock symbol next to the URL of every website, as this ensures the information passing between your device and the web server is encrypted, preventing most third parties from spying on it.

Most browsers will do this by default, but you can switch on a ‘HTTPS only feature’, which will automatically move you to the secure HTTPS encrypted version of a website if you happen to end up on the unencrypted HTTP version.

To enable HTTPS Only mode on Google Chrome, open the application and select: Settings > Privacy & Security > Security > Toggle on ‘Always Use Secure Connections’

Safari users can update their operating system to macOS Big Sur and macOS Catalina in order to use Safari 15, which automatically enables the HTTPS Upgrade feature.

4. Never install software or certificates

A public Wi-Fi network should never ask you to install any additional software or certificates to use it. If it does, this could indicate that you are connecting to a fraudulent network.

5. Avoid logging into or checking sensitive information

Hold off on logging into banking, social media and email accounts or entering any personal information on public networks until you get home, even if you are confident that you are using a legitimate Wi-Fi network.

6. Enable two-factor authentication

Make sure that any important personal accounts require two forms of verification in order for you to access them. This way, if someone successfully intercepts your password and tries logging into one of your email accounts, you will receive a text to confirm that it is actually you trying to log in.

7. Set up a mobile hotspot if possible

If you are still unsure of the legitimacy of a Wi-Fi network, try to use mobile data on your phone when possible and set up a mobile hotspot if you are working from a laptop.

8. Use a VPN

A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, uses tunnelling protocols to ‘wrap’ your data in a layer of encryption so that anyone intercepting it cannot make any sense of it, as well as concealing your true IP address.

A VPN should provide you with the greatest level of protection from online attacks, even if you are browsing the web on an unsecure Wi-Fi network. There are several free VPNs online, but more reliable ones will cost you a couple of pounds per month.