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The Telent cyberattack launched today by an individual or group of hackers appears motivated by political or social issues and commuters at this time don’t appear to be in any danger. But make no mistake that the perpetrators know exactly what they are doing given that Department of Transport statistics show more than 1 million passengers use rail systems daily traveling into London. That number more than doubles when you add surrounding cities. And many of those commuters are using the free WiFi to catch up on work, watch a movie or the latest TikTok videos.
Thankfully, Network Rail and British Transport Police are working with Telent to uncover the root cause of unsettling messages commuters are seeing as they log onto the free WiFi. A cyberattack like this is motivated by people looking to sow doubt in the minds of commuters and for that reason alone the actors responsible need to be brought to justice.
Using free, publicly available WiFi services puts all commuters and consumers at risk, including those using London rails, anyone at local coffee shops, libraries or any location with free WiFi. It is free for a reason and unsecure.
I’d recommend commuters on London transport or anyone connecting to the internet using their mobile phone activate the hotspot they have available from their wireless carrier. Reducing risk also includes not using the same passwords for all your personal accounts and a password manager can help with that. Also, don’t fall for phishing attacks, the oldest game played by criminals to get unsuspecting victims to open an email attachment that appears to be from a friend or co-worker. Don’t open attachments unless you are 100 percent certain it is coming from the person you know. And don’t overshare personal information about yourself online as advertisers, scammers and stalked are sometimes lurking.