{"id":23096,"date":"2024-07-24T16:04:13","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T12:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?p=23096"},"modified":"2024-07-24T16:04:13","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T12:04:13","slug":"how-safe-is-wi-fi-in-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/how-safe-is-wi-fi-in-paris\/23096\/","title":{"rendered":"How safe is Wi-Fi in Paris?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The upcoming Paris Olympics \u2014 the world\u2019s biggest sporting event since pandemic restrictions were lifted \u2014 are expected to attract over 15 million tourists to Paris<\/a> \u2014 which is something scammers are already actively preparing for<\/a>. Almost certainly, each of these tourists\/spectators will need access to the internet, and this is where public Wi-Fi hotspots come to the rescue. However, this approach has its risks: cybercriminals may use public access points to intercept your data.<\/p>\n

On the eve of the Olympics, our researchers have mapped and assessed the security of the open Wi-Fi networks that visitors might use. We\u2019ve analyzed around 25,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots in Paris, and found that every fourth one is unsafe<\/strong> \u2014 making their users vulnerable to personal and banking data theft. For how to safely use Wi-Fi<\/a> during the Paris Olympics \u2014 read on\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Heat<\/a>

Heat map of all the examined public access points in Paris. Red indicates a high concentration of hotspots; green \u2014 a low concentration<\/p><\/div>\n

What we found out<\/h2>\n

In total, we recorded 47,891 signal records<\/strong> from 24,766 unique Wi-Fi access points <\/strong>across popular locations and Olympic venues in Paris. Around 25% (6083)<\/strong> of the examined Wi-Fi hotspots turned out to have serious security weaknesses \u2014 such as weak or nonexistent encryption, use of outdated devices and protocols, or misconfiguration \u2014 making them vulnerable to interception, decryption, or cracking attacks.<\/p>\n

Not all of these hotspots are accessible to all passersby; to connect to some, you need to enter a password or PIN. However, in general, we classified as unsafe both completely open networks without any protection (we found 3176<\/strong> of them), as well as those that are either misconfigured or use compromised protocols and are easily hacked using widely-known algorithms.<\/p>\n

This means that when using such access points, users are at great risk: without reliable protection<\/a>, cybercriminals can steal passwords, banking data and other personal information of users.<\/p>\n

How many Wi-Fi points use WPS and WPA3?<\/h2>\n

Approximately 20% (4864)<\/strong> of the public Wi-Fi access points we investigated in Paris use the notoriously vulnerable WPS protocol<\/a>, which is outdated and easily compromised. This makes them susceptible to WPS attacks, which can lead to data loss.<\/p>\n

And below just<\/strong> 6% (1373)<\/strong> of all the hotspots are protected by the modern WPA3 security protocol, which has built-in protection against brute-force attacks, individual data encryption, and other features that make Wi-Fi access points secured by this protocol safe.<\/p>\n

This result is disappointing. The main problems we found are either the incorrect configuration of access points (making them vulnerable to attacks), or the use of outdated equipment that doesn\u2019t support modern security standards and protocols.<\/p>\n

How we researched<\/h2>\n

Experts from Kaspersky\u2019s GReAT (Global Research and Analysis Team) swapped their office chairs for benches, cafes, parks, and other public spaces in Paris for several days \u2014 all to study the most popular places in the city that Olympic spectators are likely to visit:<\/p>\n