It may be a place of refuge for world-weary Brits, but the humble boozer is where they most fear wi-fi attacks.

Research from service provider NordVPN, carried out by survey company Cint, discovered that 52 percent of little Britainers feel most at risk from nefarious cyber crims when they visit pubs, cafes and restaurants.

For those outside the island nation, a pub is not merely a place to buy an alcoholic beverage. It is home to sticky carpets, pork scratchings (roasted pork rind), insufferable experts and dubious banter. And yet, it is also seen by some as a sanctuary.

Unless - it turns out - you use the password-free wifi. This is based on a survey of 1,012 respondents of 18 years and older in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Poland, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and Spain.

It was the Brits who put the internet at hospitality venues as the top safety concern for device users, followed by the Wi-Fi offered on public transport and at shopping centres. Only one in five (20 percent) fear they would become a cyber victim at the office.

Despite the concerns, public Wi-Fi usage in the UK is among the highest of leading nations with 41 percent of people prepared to risk good security hygiene to use password-free services.

Still, network tech is not all bad in the land of British pubs, some of which, possibly, have sustained a thousand years of history. Brewers have been encouraged to sign up to what El Reg calls the Internet of Beer. The aim is to tackle the problem of stolen kegs - even an empty one can be worth £50. Supplier of the tech, Smarter Technologies, highlighted the recent theft of more than £2,000 worth from Arundel Brewery.

The hi-tech vs old pub dichotomy has been captured more recently by Ellison Institute of Technology’s decision to buy the 350-year-old Eagle and Child in Oxford.

It is the one Larry Ellison venture where users do not necessarily fear a lock-in. Please raise your glasses to a sharp-brained Reg reader for that last zinger. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2023/11/01/pints_pork_scratchings_and_passwordfree/