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Despite numerous security scares and the well-publicised dangers of keeping a Wi-Fi network unsecured, 16% of people are still failing to put a password on their connection, according to research of almost 2,000 adults by Moneysupermarket.com.

The research also shows there are plenty of people prepared to take advantage of an open connection, with 11% of respondents admitting they had piggybacked on someone else's broadband without their permission in

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the past year.

Moneysupermarket speculates that the growing trend for broadband providers to dish out free wireless routers may have escalated the problem. BT was widely criticised for sending out its Home Hub devices without WEP/WPA protection turned on by default, for example, before the company improved security with its latest version of the devices earlier this year.

It's not only the security threat of piggybackers performing illegal activity on your connection that should trouble the owners of insecure connections, Moneysupermarket warns. "If people aren't careful, they could unwittingly find a huge bill landing on their doorstep for going over the download cap imposed by their provider," the company's broadband commercial manager, James Parker warns.

"More and more providers offer routers with broadband packages and the range of the signal is increasing. People need to be aware just how important protection is and the best way to do it."