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A new “nationally representative” survey of 3,000 UK adults, which was conducted by Censuswide during July 2026, has reported that 32% of respondents were not confident they could identify a secure public Wi-Fi network from a fake (spoofed) one. On the flip side, 73% of men did feel confident identifying secure Wi-Fi, compared with 64% of women.
The survey, which was commissioned by Compare the Market, also found there was an age gap, with 39% of those aged 55 and over not being confident they could tell whether a Wi-Fi network was secure. By comparison, 18 to 24-year-olds are the most confident group at 80%.
Sadly quite a few people still make the mistake of assuming that public Wi-Fi networks (e.g. airports, hotels and cafes) are all safe and secure, even though this might not always be the case. If you’re not careful then you could end up connecting to a hotspot that’s been hijacked or even deliberately setup (spoofed SSID) to fool you.