Sensitive information should not be sent over public wi-fi hotspots, to avoid hackers stealing it, Europe's top cybercrime police officer has warned.
Troels Oerting, head of Europol's cybercrime centre, said people should send personal data only across networks they trusted.
He said the warning was motivated by the growing number of attacks being carried out via public wi-fi.
Europol is helping a number of countries after such attacks, he said.
Stolen data
"We have seen an increase in the misuse of wi-fi, in order to steal information, identity or passwords and money from the users who use public or insecure wi-fi connections, we should teach users that they should not address sensitive information while being on an open insecure wi-fi internet." he said.
The attackers are not using novel techniques, but rely on well-known approaches that attempt to trick people into connecting to a hotspot that, superficially, resembles those seen in cafes, pubs and restaurants and other public spaces.
Man in the Middle
The attacks meant that data swapped when people communicate with a bank, shop via the web or log in to social media sites could be captured by attackers.
As its name implies, in the Man in the Middle attack thieves attempt to insert themselves between users and a hotspot to gather all data passing between the two points.
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