• Analysis of more than 25 000 WiFi hotspots in Paris revealed an alarming number aren’t secure.
• 25 percent of hotspots analysed have no or weak encryption.
• Only six percent of networks have the latest encryption standards available.

Experts at cybersecurity firm Kaspersky have analysed 25 000 WiFi hotspots in Paris and found that an alarming number aren’t secured.

Analysis revealed that 25 percent of these networks are weak or have no encryption, leaving users vulnerable to data theft. The analysis also found that only six percent of networks use the WPA3 standard.

Additionally, 20 percent of networks are configured using the outdated WPS standard.

Essentially then, if you’re travelling to Paris for the Olympic Games, you may want to avoid hopping on a WiFi network as you may fall prey to man-in-the-middle attacks and potentially worse.

“Like the sportspeople training for the summer of sport in France, cybercriminals have also prepared an unsavoury welcome for the millions of people heading for Paris hotels, fan zones and events. They might set up fake access points or compromise legitimate networks to intercept and manipulate data transfers. Open and misconfigured Wi-Fi networks are particularly attractive to criminals, as they enable the theft of passwords, credit card details, and other sensitive user data,” comments Amin Hasbini, director of META Research Center, Global Research and Analysis Team at Kaspersky.

Unfortunately, many of these networks happen to be in areas near major attractions include Arc de Triomphe, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Louvre Museum, Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Seine river, Trocadéro, and Stade de France.

Kaspersky notes that some protection can be offered by a VPN. While a VPN can help because it offers a sort of shroud that masks your activity on a public network, we should caution that a VPN isn’t protection software and if a criminal has access to your PC they could see anything you do, VPN or not.

Cybercrime is expected to ramp up during the Olympics. While attendees are sure to be targeted, those looking to stream the games or purchase merchandise could fall prey to scams as well.