One in Five Wi-Fi Hotspots in World Cup Host Cities Are Unsafe

According to Kaspersky Lab, 7,176 out of approximately 32,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots (over 20%) deployed in the cities hosting the upcoming FIFA World Cup do not use encryption or authentication protocols. As a result, fans should be aware that using such open networks can lead to the leakage of their confidential data. Cybercriminals only need to be near one of these access points to intercept network traffic and obtain users’ personal information.

Analysis of Public Wi-Fi in 11 Russian Host Cities

Kaspersky Lab experts analyzed public Wi-Fi hotspots in 11 Russian cities hosting the World Cup: Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Saransk, Samara, Sochi, and St. Petersburg. The three cities with the highest percentage of unsecured public Wi-Fi networks are St. Petersburg (37%), Kaliningrad (35%), and Rostov-on-Don (32%). The safest cities in this regard are Saransk (10%) and Samara (17%).

Encryption Protocols and Their Limitations

Approximately two-thirds of all public wireless networks in these Russian cities use WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access), an encryption protocol considered among the most reliable. However, even WPA2-protected Wi-Fi can be vulnerable to hacker attacks, such as password brute-forcing and key reinstallation attacks. Therefore, even these encryption protocols do not guarantee complete safety when connecting to public networks.

Expert Commentary

“Major international events like the World Cup usually attract extra attention from cybercriminals. The lack of traffic encryption makes Wi-Fi networks especially attractive targets for attackers who want easy access to users’ personal data. Even two-thirds of the access points in World Cup host cities that use the most reliable WPA2 encryption protocol cannot be considered safe if their passwords are publicly available. That’s why people should remember: using public wireless networks can put their personal data at risk,” emphasized Denis Legeza, antivirus expert at Kaspersky Lab.