The survey, conducted among 10 hotels in Dublin and throughout Ireland, showed that security flaws in their guest Wi-Fi service put users at their premises at risk. IT security firm Smarttech. ie carried out the tests between October 22 and November 27 at 10 randomly selected hotels from 3- to 5-star, and found that even a novice hacker would be able to collect everything from credit card details to e-mail logins.

All of the tests conducted revealed serious vulnerabilities and risks for the users, the company said. Ronan Murphy, chief executive of Smarttech.ie said: “Consumers need to be aware that if you are accessing public Wi-Fi there are serious security challenges. “The tests we carried out prove that these risks affect anyone using public Wi-Fi. However there are steps that hotels and restaurants can take to secure their Wi-Fi service and therefore protect their customers”.