It’s Friday again, when CBR collects the most surprising stories of the week. Follow the links to find out about contactless cards, the Ashley Madison hack and persistently poor wi-fi in the UK.
1. Contactless cards are very insecure
Coming in at number one on this week’s list, it’s the inherent weakness of contactless cards. A Which? report found that you can easily obtain card numbers and expiry dates with a low-tech reader and some free software.
Never fear – mobile payments are on the way, and they promise to be much safer. Experts from Gemalto and Quocirca explained to CBR why solutions like Apple Pay have a built in advantage.
2. Ashley Madison gets hacked
Marital transgressions hub Ashley Madison was hacked on Monday, with the culprits the ‘Impact Team’ capturing 37 million users’ details.
The hackers’ motives were couched in moral terms – but they were aimed at the website, not the users. In a message posted online, the Impact Team claimed that the website’s ‘Full Delete’ function, costing £15, did not work as advertised and credit card information was not removed.
3. Wi-fi is failing a huge number of users
We’ve all suffered from poor quality wi-fi, but a report by Global Wireless Solutions this week revealed the sheer extent to which UK users were having to supplement their service with mobile data.
Forty percent of Brits use mobile data at home, with 1 in 4 Brits forced to do so due to poor wi-fi coverage. All in all, 13 percent of Brits never connect their mobile devices to home wi-fi.
