New research has today revealed 4.3 million Brits are guilty of ‘hacking’ their neighbours Wi-Fi when their own internet has gone down, or even in a bid to avoid paying for their own internet connection. A total of 1.6 million of those ‘piggybacking’ their neighbours’ Wi-Fi had held onto passwords after getting permission on a previous occasion.
But 2.7 million hacked their way in by guessing passwords, with combinations so simple that a third (33 per cent) cracked the code within half an hour. A fifth (18 per cent) of perpetrators spent over 2 hours – and in some cases weeks (5 per cent) – trying various password combinations.
The Wi-Fi owner’s name (30 per cent), pet names (28 per cent) and children’s names (24 per cent) were the most likely starting guesses for would-be hackers. The study by satellite broadband provider, Konnect, showed only 25 per cent of Britons are fully confident their neighbours have never piggybacked their internet.
