Wi-Fi Users Sign Over First-Born Children
The results of a social experiment in London suggest that on-the-go Internet users are not being as careful as they should be when connecting to unfamiliar networks. In order to connect to a rigged Wi-Fi network set up by mobile security firm F-Secure, six users agreed to sign over their first born children to the company.
In the experiment, F-Secure set up a “poisoned” Wi-Fi hotspot on a table in Café Brera, a busy coffee shop in London’s Canada Square. To connect to the Wi-Fi network, which the company cobbled together from US $200 worth of parts that included a Raspberry Pi microcomputer, a battery pack, and some rubber bands, users needed to agree to a specially constructed terms and conditions page. Those terms—which, again, six people agreed to—included the following notice: “In using this service, you agree to relinquish your first born child to F-Secure, as and when the company requires it. In the event that no children are produced, your most beloved pet will be taken instead. The terms of this agreement stand for eternity.”
In an accompanying experiment, F-Secure set up the same hotspot at Broad Sanctuary, a public space not far from the houses of parliament.
More: Browser Beware: Wi-Fi Users Sign Over First-Born Children - IEEE Spectrum