Man arrested for stealing passengers’ data from free Wi-Fi during flights

THREE KEY FACTS

• The Australian Federal Police have charged a man for stealing flight passengers’ data during flights
• The 42-year-old from Perth faces nine charges for alleged cybercrime offences
• Police allege that he set up ‘evil twin’ free Wi-Fi networks to commit the crimes

Travellers are warned to be more careful after the Australian Federal Police (AFP) charged a man for allegedly setting up fake free Wi-Fi on flights and at airports and stealing passengers’ data.

Police said in a statement they had launched an investigation in April after they received a tip from airline staff about a suspicious Wi-Fi network on a domestic flight.

Investigators seized a portable wireless access device, a laptop and a mobile phone - and searched the home of Perth man Michael Clapsis twice - before he was arrested and charged on May 8.

The AFP alleges Clapsis created “evil twin” free Wi-Fi at “multiple locations” to convince victims to think they were legitimate airport networks. He did this using a portable wireless access device.

People would be taken to a fake webpage and asked to sign in using their email or social media logins, which were then saved on Clapsis’ devices, police allege.

The 42-year-old faces nine charges in relation to alleged cybercrime offences.

Clapsis appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court on June 28 and was released on a $20,000 bail. He was also required to surrender his passport, live at a specified address, and have restricted use of the internet, ABC reported. He will be due back in court in August.

The case serves as a timely warning to be more vigilant when connecting to public Wi-Fi, police said.

“To connect to a free Wi-Fi network, you shouldn’t have to enter any personal details – such as logging in through an email or social media account,” said AFP Western Command Cybercrime Detective Inspector Andrea Coleman.

“If you do want to use public Wi-Fi hotspots, install a reputable virtual private network (VPN) on your devices to encrypt and secure your data when using the internet.

“When using a public network, disable file sharing, don’t do anything sensitive - such as banking -while connected to it and once you finish using it, change your device settings to ‘forget network’.

“We also recommend turning off the Wi-Fi on your phone or other electronic devices before going out in public, to prevent your device from automatically connecting to a hotspot.”