South African travellers connect to unsecured WiFi at any cost – study

A new study by Kaspersky has found that many South African travellers connect to unsecured WiFi networks in no time flat, shedding light on their reasons for doing so.

The study saw 11 850 people around the world polled, but when focusing on local results, Kaspersky found that over half of all South Africans (55%) are already online when they leave the airport.

Additionally, 81% of SA travellers hopped online to notify loved ones of their safe arrival, while 38% used the internet access to download travel information.

“Pressure from work (42%) is also a strong factor, as is the desire to get up to speed on social media (38%). 42% of South African travellers state, simply, that it is instinctive to go online as soon as possible,” the web security firm added in an emailed statement.

They also found that 77% of SA travellers took advantage of free-to-use public WiFi networks at airports, hotels, restaurants and other venues.

Related: 1 in 5 South Africans don’t care about passwords, 8.8m hit by ‘cyber crime’

“But away from home and trusted networks, the lack of regard for network security plays into the hands of cyber-criminals. 17% of South African travellers have been a victim of cybercrime while away from home, compared to 8% of those who have faced real-life crime,” Kaspersky explained.

In a somewhat interesting discovery, the firm’s survey revealed that 72% of SA users bank over WiFi while abroad, while 63% shop over WiFi while travelling.

The company recommended that users keep their security software up to date and use a VPN service.

Featured image: Nicolas Nova via Flickr