Study finds that people will connect to any free Wi-Fi, regardless of risk.

We have all done it. We've all been travelling somewhere, found that free Wi-Fi signal and connected to it. Well, unfortunately, doing that may be riskier than we thought.

Researchers from Avast, one of the leading anti-virus and security software companies, set up an experiment during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. They set up free Wi-Fi hotspots with names like "Starbucks", "Airport_Free_Wifi_AENA", and "MWC Free WiFi". Of course these all look like pretty legitimate names, so you could expect a few connections.

Well, they got more than a few. They managed to capture over two thousand connections in four hours.

The researchers were able to pull up all sorts of data from users connected to their signals. They found out what websites they had been browsing and even what apps they had installed on their phones. Someone with ill intentions could easily capture much more information, even potentially sensitive information.

It's a good reminder to use caution when connecting to random Wi-Fi signals. The security conscious will  certainly want to use a VPN on their phones. So if you do connect to an unknown free Wi-Fi signal, maybe don't do your internet banking.