Broadband Internet

You may be one of the thousands of people that upgraded their broadband connection to wireless which lets you access the web anywhere in the home, but are you leaving yourself open to fraud? Around 5m households now have wireless - or "Wi-Fi" - internet access. However, about half of these have not protected their connection.

Neighbours could easily log in and piggy-back on your internet access leaving them bill free; this is a very common case if you live in an apartment block or flat. Hackers can also access files and spy on the websites you have used. More worryingly they can work out when you are on your holiday if you have booked online, leaving your home and your possessions at risk. A hacker with the right software and know-how can access your online bank account and potentially uncover your password, cleaning you out of all your funds.

Once they have stolen your identity there is no saying what they will do. As if it's not enough to have emptied your bank accounts, they can also apply for credit cards plummeting you into debt and sometimes blacklisting you. Fraudsters have been known to purchase things as large as plasma TVs, game consoles and luxury holidays.

It's alarmingly simple for fraudsters to hack into your life and steal your identity as they can purchase software that identifies homes with unprotected wireless connections. They no longer have to trawl streets at random with their equipment to find vulnerable homes. Surprisingly, it is not difficult to protect your internet connection. Most broadband providers, including Orange, BT, AOL and Sky, issue wireless modems that are already secured or "locked".

The problem often occurs when a wireless router is bought from a manufacturer or a retailer; because you have to secure it manually, you can easily miss out a step in the process. The easy option is to go for the modem from your broadband provider, although they are not all free with broadband deals.