How to Avoid Security Risks Associated with Public Wi-Fi
Almost every public place now offers free Wi-Fi. It started out in some of the mainstream places, but now it’s available everywhere. You, like a lot of people, might make use of these networks without realizing the security risks attached to them. This kind of open source network is heaven for hackers. They take control of it, and then they are able to gain access to every device that connects to it. This allows them to sneak in and get their hands on all of your personal photos and videos, and even your personal information if it’s present there. Just because of your temptation to use free internet, you may lose everything. However, if you just can’t live without public Wi-Fi, then at least you can take following precautions to minimize the security risks.
The simplest solution for avoiding public Wi-Fi threat is to use a VPN app. They are pretty easy to find and operate so even if you aren’t familiar with VPN apps, you will find them easy to use. The only thing you have to do is launch the app, connect to a secure server, and that’s about it. Your data will start to flow through an encrypted tunnel. Some VPN apps are even capable of encrypting your data so that even if hackers get their hands on your sensitive information, they won’t be able to decipher it.
Turn Sharing Off
Sharing is turned on by default on Home and Work networks. However, when you are at a public place, you surely aren’t looking to share anything with anyone. So instead of selecting Home or Work network, you should select the option of the Public network when you connect to a public Wi-Fi. Windows will automatically turn off sharing in this setting, saving you from potential threats. However, if you have accidently started to use it as Home or Work network, then you should go to system preferences and disable the sharing option right away.
SSL Connections Can Help
If you don’t have VPN installed on your device, then you should access every website using HTTPS. If you don’t want to do that on every site, then we would highly recommend using it on websites where you have to put in your credentials like bank details, social security number, emails, or passwords. This added layer of encryption will surely make things a little bit tougher for the hackers no matter how good they are.
Turn Public Wi-Fi Off when You Don’t Need It
As discussed before, public Wi-Fi is cause your device and data to become compromised. The better option here is to avoid using these networks altogether. However, if you really have to use them, then go ahead by all means, but ensure that you turn it off as soon as you are done. If you just keep your device connected to it even when you are not using it, then that makes the process of hacking even easier for the experts. They will be able to sneak in malware without your notice, and then access everything available on your device. You certainly don’t want that to happen, so save yourself and your device from all the trouble by turning public Wi-Fi off as soon as you’re done with it.
Apple iOS 10.1 Update Get Rids of Huge Security ExploitNovember 1st, 2016
3 Facts That You Probably Didn’t Know About MalwareOctober 25th, 2016
How to Avoid Security Risks Associated with Public Wi-FiOctober 17th, 2016
3 Most Common Ways Smartphones Become InfectedOctober 17th, 2016
Hackers Spreading Malware Through Torrent FilesOctober 3rd, 2016