Smartphone and tablet users are unwittingly logging into pirate wi-fi hotspots that allow hackers to read emails and steal account details.
An experiment in London found that hundreds of people logged into a pirate hotspot in just half an hour because it masqueraded as a free wi-fi point. Many were logged in automatically because of the settings on their devices.
The pirate hotspot, which could be concealed in a small bag, cost £160 to assemble from parts bought online.
The study was carried out by the Cyber Security Research Institute and German security firm SySS on behalf of F-Secure, a Finnish security company. Troels Oerting, assistant director at Europol, said: “We have already seen this in operation.
“The criminals don’t even need to set up