Indians most willing to share personal data over public wifi

More than one in three Indians share personal data, despite knowing this will make them vulnerable to cyber attacks

Indians are more willing than citizens of other nations, to share personal information on public wifi while traveling for vacations, a new survey by Intel Security has found.

A survey conducted across 14 countries including India in March 2016, interviewed 13,960 respondents between the ages of 21 and 54, of which 1,423 were from India. The other countries included in the survey were Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Singapore, US, Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, UK, and the Netherlands.

Travelers are fast becoming target for cyber criminals, who can easily access sensitive information on devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and wearables when connected to unsecured public wifi.

Almost 31 per cent of Indians access or share sensitive information on public wifi while travelling for leisure, the highest among the 14 countries surveyed, the report said. Overall, about 84 per cent of Indians connect to the internet while they are on vacation.

"Indians lead their global counterparts in willingly sharing personal information such as credit card number or log in name and password," the report said. "More than one out of three Indians (36 per cent) share their personal data even when they realize that this will make them vulnerable."

Meanwhile, the report noted that 37 per cent of Indians could not last a day on vacation without checking social media, the highest after Japan (45 per cent). E-mailing, geo-tagging and social media activities done over public wifi are the sweet spots for cyber criminals, who are looking to gain access to users' personal information.

The survey also found that the majority of Indians (54 per cent) are not willing to leave their smartphone at home while on vacation, while 69 per cent claim to have felt a sense of anxiety over being unplugged.