Is Public WiFi Safe?
Many public areas like hotels, airports, coffee shops, and restaurants offer free WiFi for their guests, but is that safe to connect to? The answer is NO! Even though these networks are very convenient, you have to be very careful since they are not secure, you do not know who set it up, or who else is connected to it.
Hackers thrive off of public WiFi connections since they do not require any authentication to establish a network connection. It is very easy for hackers to position themselves between your connection and an application or server. This is known as a Man in the Middle Attack (MITM). For example, if you connected to a public WiFi to access your bank account, instead of sending that information to your bank’s website, the hacker who positions themselves in the middle of you and the bank, is really collecting all of your information. The hacker can eavesdrop on your session and track your personal information, or impersonate other parties and make it seem like nothing is different on your end.
Hackers can also distribute Malware to your computer by finding weak spots in software or your operating system. Hackers can also download special software that helps them record all of your activity online and even save that information to hijack your accounts and devices.
Generally, you should not connect to a public network, but if you have to, follow these Do’s and Don’ts to help protect your identity and devices.
Do:
Connect to your own mobile hotspot or connect to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) so that you can surf the web privately and securely. VPNs are much more secure since there are encryption processes that protect data that is sent over the web and they mask your internet protocol (IP) address so that your activity is virtually undetectable by hackers.
Log out of all accounts when you are done using them.
Use websites that are secure. You can tell if a website is secure if you see HTTPS:// in the URL.
Turn off the WiFi connection when you are done using it.
Don’t:
Enter your personal information while you are on public wifi. This includes accessing your emails, bank accounts, social media accounts, anything else that requires usernames, passwords, secure information.
Allow your Wi-Fi to automatically connect to available networks.
Leave your device unattended in a public location. You never know who will steal your device or peak at the activity on your device.
Share this knowledge with your friends and family!