What is Piggybacking? – Beware of Unprotected Open Networks

06 February 2025

Do you know that getting hacked takes no more than connecting to an unknown WiFi? Now, you may say that we don't connect to unknown WiFi. Well, things again!

Sometimes, that WiFi can be in a place like a restaurant, making you trust because what can go wrong there, right? Well, no, because you will know what piggybacking is, but you will never trust any open WiFi. And that's what this blog is for: making you aware of piggybacking and how it's a potential threat to not only individuals but organisations with an IT infrastructure as well.

What is Piggybacking?

Piggybacking is a term that describes an unauthorised way to access a wireless network like WiFi on someone's premises. However, this is what piggybacking a WiFi means. Piggybacking is also used to gain unauthorised access to physical premises, a common form of theft.

Back to piggybacking a WiFi, this technique mostly uses someone else's WiFi without letting them know. For example, if a cafe has an open WiFi network for its customers, and someone accesses it from outside the shop, it's a piggybacking attempt. But in some cases, it can be a more serious crime.

How Piggybacking Can Be Dangerous for a Company?

Piggybacking may not be seen as something more than stealing your internet, but when it comes to organisations with wireless networks, it makes their WiFi an open end to enter your network. This is where end point security becomes essential, as it protects devices connected to the network from potential threats.

Let's take an example again to understand. Let's assume your company has WiFi which is password protected. While the WiFi is for employees, its range can't be physically determined. So, the WiFi signals may exceed your company's premises, making it available for people who can be a threat to your company's data, like cyber attackers. By connecting to the WiFi and exploiting weak points, cyberattackers can steal your data, such as IPs, trade secrets, etc.

And not only your physical premises but even your remote employee can be a way to target your company's data. Let's say your employee goes to a cafe and connects to an open WiFi. Now, since the network is open, any other person can also connect to it and get unauthorised access to your employee's device.

How to Prevent Piggybacking?

To prevent piggybacking, you should keep your WiFi network password protected. Moreover, make policies for your remote employees, like not using any public WiFi for office work. Moreover, you should also use technologies like business-grade WiFi to make the network for your remote employees more secure

Lastly, you should also invest in IT support for your office. IT support ensures that your employees can access IT experts for any problem they face, including cyber attack attempts through piggybacking, phishing, etc.

To Sum Up

In most cases, piggybacking is not harmful, as you don't expect a hacker to sit beside you and take a sip of coffee. However, it can be a serious problem when we talk about organisations and businesses. That's why you should make your IT infrastructure and the policies related to it very strong. Otherwise, this mediocre technique can lead to financial loss or reputational damage.