The shopping mall advertises free wifi throughout the mall, just connect and accept the terms and conditions. Sounds great, right? And it might be great for your social media addiction, but not so good for security.
The easier it is to connect to a wifi network, the easier it is for bad stuff to be happening on it. A better option is to look for a coffee shop or restaurant inside the mall, and use their private wifi network instead.
Never connect your devices to any free wifi network without an up to date antivirus. Most laptops these days come with a built in software, like Windows Defender, which should be sufficient for most people. Of course, you can step up and download a software like Avast, which is free and gives you an extra layer of protection. The way a VPN works is it hides your IP address and encrypts your connection, so that everything you send over the internet is hidden.
Think of it like a ninja connection — whenever you send information, nobody knows what it was or where it came from. You may be familiar with using a VPN for work; often a requirement if you work for government or handle sensitive information. However, your personal details are just as, if not more, important than your work stuff, so you should be using a VPN on your personal devices too. Luckily VPNs are cheap and accessible these days, so there really is no excuse to not be using one.
You can click here to look at their plans. The best way to stay safe on public wifi is to not use it at all. Like I said these steps will not make you bulletproof, but will definitely reduce your chance of being a target. Your email address will not be published.
Take a moment to think about your phone. Think about how much stuff is on there. How much personal stuff. How much stuff you would never want anyone else to see. And your laptop? In the United States, most of the big libraries today have a device that looks like a phone. This device is known as MIFI.
The device can also be borrowed from all the major libraries in the US and other countries depending on availability in your region. You just need a library card. It is quite easy to use the MIFI. All you need to do is to hold down the large button at the center until it flashes.
Then enter the login information conveniently located at the back of the device and start using free Wi-Fi Internet courtesy of the local library. How about speed? Well, from experience, I can confidently say that these devices are really fast. I got one from a library recently and tested it for the purpose of showing you how fast the MIFIs really are. It had a steady rate of Mbps, which you will agree is really fast for an external Wi-Fi device.
It was fast enough to stream all the content I usually stream on TV, phone, and laptop. Nothing, except the online purchase you made while browsing the Internet at your local coffee shop. The number of free public Wi-Fi hotspots is growing, but not every hotspot can provide the protection of a private home network. You may share your music library, printers or files, or even allow remote login from other computers on your Wi-Fi network in the privacy of your own home. Unless you disable these settings before connecting to a public Wi-Fi network, anyone else in the vicinity may be able to hack into your PC.
For Mac, just go to System Preferences, then Sharing, and make sure none of the options are checked. The most secure way to browse on a public network is to use a virtual private network. A VPN routes your traffic through a secure network even on public Wi-Fi, giving you all the perks of your private network while still having the freedom of public Wi-Fi.
If you regularly connect to unknown networks, setting up a VPN is smart to protect your personal information. Your smartphone or tablet may be set to automatically connect to any available Wi-Fi hotspot, a setting that can seriously endanger your privacy.
Not only will this allow your device to connect to public networks without your express permission, you may also be automatically connecting to malicious networks set up specifically to steal your information. Otherwise, turn this setting off. Regular websites transfer content in plain text, making it an easy target for anyone who has hacked into your network connection.
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