@ZSn
"I presume that if you turn the WiFi on your phone off none of this works and you are secure?"
Exactly.
This is also why I made sure to get Internet access through my broadband provider instead of having to rely on wifi. Wifi, per definition, is a power drain. I recently set up wifi on my FreeBSD powered laptop (it was a bit tricky) and read a lot about the whole thing.
Basically every broadcast you make will consume power. When looking for hotspots (so trying without being able to connect) will gobble up even more power. And then there are the hidden SSID's, which can be even worse.
And let's also not forget risk assessment. I once had a few customers who refused to use encryption on their tablets because it was so difficult. They went to Italy on vacation and guess what happened next? Yups: happily used open wifi spots and a few days later my servers spotted weird connections originating from Italy and trying to send out viagra advertisements through these accounts.
Open wifi is a major security risk. Yet it seems no one bothers to stop to think about that. Which makes sense of course: larger broadband providers make money out of it, so obviously we need to be told that "open wifi = good" and "paid open wifi = better".
I'm also leaving things turned off.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
