Every day, hundreds of thousands of us visit coffee shops. While we drink our coffee, we may connect our smart phone to the shop’s Wi-Fi network, and keep in touch with friends via services such as Facebook.
As well as socializing, we may use the time and free access to a wireless connection to get on top of our finances. Transferring money from your account to others’ accounts is nothing more than a few taps on your screen.
But what coffee drinkers do not realize is that lurking (潜伏) among their fellow coffee-lovers are bank robbers.
Unbeknown to you, this modern form of bank robber is silently collecting all your private data. The only sign of his thievery is perhaps a little smile as your bank log-in details appear on his screen.
You’ll only realize when you later go to a cash machine to withdraw(提取)some money, and discover that every penny in your account has been cleared out.
The more common method for thieves is to use your smart phone’s Wi-Fi connection. They rely on the fact that most of us are not careful about the security of networks we connect to.
For example, when you are in a coffee shop, your smart phone will present you with a list of available Wi-Fi networks that you can use to connect your phone to the Internet. Most of these networks are run by legitimate(合法的) companies, but sometimes they are actually created by a thief sitting nearby with little more than a laptop.
These networks are often given names, such as “Free Public Wi-Fi”, which deceive smart phone users into logging in. On the surface, everything seems normal, and you will be able to connect just as you are with a legitimate Wi-Fi service.
However, because you have connected to a network controlled by a thief, he can monitor (监视) everything you do, enabling him to collect passwords and log-in details about your bank account. In fact, the process is so simple that thieves can steal thousands of pounds in just a few hours while sitting in their local Starbucks.
【小题1】The underlined phrase “get on top of” can be replaced by ________.| A．deal with | B．give up | C．cut off | D．set up |
| A．Near the victim | B．Outside the bank |
| C．At the street | D．In a coffee shop |
| A．The free public Wi-Fi is illegal |
| B．The process of the thief stealing your money is simple |
| C．The thief can’t collect your private information. |
| D．There are only coffee-lovers in the coffee shops. |
| A．Transferring money from your account to others’ is a complex process. |
| B．It’s easy for you to tell bank robbers from other coffee drinkers. |
| C．Online thieves could steal money because people pay little attention to the security of networks. |
| D．All the available networks in a coffee shop are illegal. |
| A．The convenience of free Wi-Fi networks. | B．The thief who withdraws our money. |
| C．Be cautious about free Wi-Fi networks | D．The process of stealing money. |
