The experiment saw Steve Lord (from Mandalorian) and Warren intercept various communications the politicians made while using public Wi-Fi hotspots. The duo set up malicious Wi-Fi hotspots using inexpensive, easily obtainable materials. The locations were everyday places that people visit regularly, such as cafes, hotels and offices, and in each case Warren and Lord successfully compromised the politicians’ devices. The experiment was designed to exploit the weaknesses inherent in Wi-Fi rather than weaknesses in the targets, making the security risks common to others using public Wi-Fi hotspots.

The experiment showed just how easy it was to monitor communications conducted over Wi-Fi, and information contained in calls, emails, and social media accounts were easily intercepted by Lord and Warren. Passwords and login details for different services were also easily obtained, essentially compromising access to various online services, such as social media and email accounts.

Wi-Fi Exposé Hits Home for Lawmakers

“I’ve used Wi-Fi all over Europe, so this is very worrying indeed. I need to use it in my work because I travel around a lot” said Honeyball. “I am surprised and shocked.”

Much of the information intercepted during the experiment, such as browsing history, seems harmless enough. But when this information is incorporated into hacking or other criminal enterprises, it can be used to launch highly effective attacks – such as spear-phishing campaigns, or various forms of identity theft.

“Well it’s pretty horrifying to be honest,” said Davis. “Gmail is pretty much my private conversation, so you were able to get into all of that, and quite frankly you would have been able to masquerade as me.”

Check out this podcast for more reactions and details about the experiment, or click here for the full report.

This story was originally reported by F-Secure and can be found here.