44.5% of UK People Share their Home WiFi with Friends and Family

LONDON - June 5, 2017 - PRLog -- People today are generally much more conscious of their Internet security. A new survey of nearly 1,400 ISPreview.co.uk readers (*) in the United Kingdom has revealed that 92% know how to access their broadband router's web-based admin interface but only 76% have changed its default admin password and 74% did the same for their Wi-Fi password.

Interestingly, when it came to accessing the web-based admin interface, some 73% of respondents described themselves as being "Advanced" users while 19.5% said they only understood the basics and 7.5% didn't know how to use it.

Respondents were also asked whether their home broadband router had ever been hacked and 80% said "No", while 17% were "Unsure" and sadly 3% answered "Yes".

ISPreview.co.uk's Founder, Mark Jackson, said: "Last year saw a number of high profile attacks against broadband ISP routers, some of which (e.g. the Mirai Worm) were able to hijack them to potentially steal personal data (e.g. WiFi passwords) or launch Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. A small number of KCOM, TalkTalk and Post Office customers, among others, were hit by this."

"Nevertheless it's good to see that most people are now quite security conscious, but if you're one of those who has not yet got around to changing your router and WiFi passwords from the default then please do so. Granted this won't stop every nasty but it's a fairly easy thing to do and will help the security of your network (assuming you've chosen a strong password). Sadly some routers have a default password that is very easy to guess (e.g. admin / admin)."

The survey also revealed that many people share their home WiFi access with friends as well as family, while only a tiny proportion run an open access network or share access with their neighbours.

Who is allowed to access / use your home WiFi?
Family + Friends - 44.5%
Family - 38%
Only me! - 14%
It's open to all! - 2%
Family + Friends + Neighbours - 1%


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* Online poll conducted between 20th April to 1st June 2017 with 1,384 UK Internet connected readers of the http://www.ispreview.co.uk website.