Report: Airport WiFi Hot Spot May Be Injecting Additional Ads

[engine]

We all know WiFi hotspots are risky, for all kinds of reasons, but, if you're using a legitimate airport WiFi, according to this report, additional ads are being injected onto normal ad-supported sites. I guess if it's free, it has to be paid for somewhere, but, if it hasn't told the user, that's a different matter. If you're a publisher, and you carry ads on your site, are you then losing out to the additional ads? Oh, and what about the sites that don't carry ads normally: If they suddenly get ads, what's going on!

Many users want the airport WiFi, and some airports have legitimate and good WiFi, but others can be risky, especially with the number of bad actors that want to hijack your data.

Probably best to stay off the WiFi at airports and other public places unless something can be done to lift it out of "risky" into "secure."

AT&T's "free" Wi-Fi may be too good to be true. One of the company's Wi-Fi hotspots, in Virginia's Dulles airport, is reportedly using an ad-injection platform to tamper with the web traffic of users and bombard them with more ads. Jonathan Mayer, a computer scientist and Stanford lawyer, says he discovered ad-injecting code while using the AT&T hotspot in the airport. Mayer noticed ads appearing on educational, government, and ad-supported sites such as The Wall Street Journal, and decided to take a look at the web source, discovering that it was adding lines of code that would pull in promotional materials from outside companies. Report: Airport WiFi Hot Spot May Be Injecting Additional Ads [theverge.com]

[tangor]

While this is not "man-in-the-middle" it amounts to the same thing. AT&T has been caught doing this. It is a slim bet that others are doing the same and have avoided the scrutiny. These "hot spots" are danger zones of all kinds of degrees... with advertising injections being the least of one's concern.

I don't even use WiFi on my home network (where it might actually be useful) for that very reason... and all my routers have an On-Off switch for the "radio" for the WiFi... and it is set to off.

That said, I am not the average "traveler" as I don't travel, but others do, and need that connectivity from time to time. Just know where you are, how you are doing it, and through whom!

[lucy24]

if it's free, it has to be paid for somewhere

It has already been paid for. How many people hang out in airports just to make use of their wifi? The network is just another line item in the airport's operating expenses, which in turn is one component of the cost of your plane ticket.

Wasn't there another thread not long ago that in a similar way involved people being asked to pay for the same thing twice?

[piatkow]

Most "free" wi-fi that I have come across insists that you sign up for their marketing emails.

I have no problem with a splash screen when you connect but inserting content onto another publisher's page is definitely beyond the pale.

[toidi]

I have avoided public wi-fi for a while now because of this crap. The ads are one thing but so many times it just plain messes up the browsing experience.

on a side note, what are the dangers of using the hot spot on my phone?

[lawman]

Mobile hot spot on my phone is password protected and uses my data.

[tangor]

Public WiFi is a danger zone for most because (and this is what has been reported by some) the initial connection is HTTP not HTTPS and in that moment man-in-the-middle scrape can occur (usually passwords sent in clear text! or some other revealing info).

However, public whyfly is NOT free, no matter how much the local (airport, city council, etc) say as there are always ads splashed all over it to increase the coffers that are attempting to pay for the "public" part because, THESE ARE NOT FREE.

Somebody has to pay. In airports that would be the traveler (check your itemized on the ticket and see taxes, use fees, other things) and in that there's a few cents or more collected for the WiFi. For communities, it's a fee collected via either telephone, sewer, taxes... whatever revenue stream they can use, or portion and that means even non-computer users are paying for the connection hot points.

[creeking]

[indystar.com...]

fast free airport wifi. makes me want to go try it out.



how's that for a timely and on-topic link?

[J_RaD]

Do those things generate any kinda of revenue at all? Do people really pay attention to the injected ads so much it creates $$$$ I can't really think so.
Or is it just blind leading the blind... marketing, SPEND! marketing, tracking? whats tracking? I guess its making us money. *shoulder shrug*

Can someone for once just provide a nice service! Just install an open wifi system and leave everyone alone!

[tangor]

I'd like that!

You paying?

Came back to edit to say that was not a joke, just reality that has a really humorous side.

Which might be either joke or irony.

[J_RaD]

with all the revenue the airport generates im sure a dedicated internet connection and hot spot isn't going to break the bank :-P

You aren't paying to wipe your rear end and wash your hands in the bathroom.