United States
Staffed with 100% US Employees

Use Public Wi-Fi Safely

May 8, 2018 by Ed Becker

At some point, you may need to access public Wi-Fi to connect for work or personal use, even though you realize that free public Wi-Fi is often hacked, and not always so secure.  So it’s definitely worthwhile to be safety conscious.  TechPluto shares some simple tips to keep your public Wi-Fi use as safe as possible:

  1. Use only reliable networks – Wi-Fi in stores and coffee shops that are password protected are often safer than  free, open networks like those at airports or train stations
  2. Look at the network name carefully, beware if it simply lists the offer as free Wi-Fi, this could indicate that it’s a trap to steal your personal information.
  3. Connect to public Wi-Fi only when you really need to and immediately disconnet the public Wi-Fi when you are not using it.
  4. Work on habitually connecting to the HTTPS version of all sites, but keep in mind that not all sites use this protocol.  “In this way, the information that you send to a site is encrypted, which is important if anyone is possibly trying to look in and steal your details. It won’t give you complete protection but it will help you to avoid some common problems.”
  5. Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).   VPN’s  offer a simple way to give you added security and privacy while using a public network.  “A few of the best free VPN options are Cyberghost, Windscribe, HideMan, and Hotspot Shield.  There are VPNs for laptops but also for tablets and smartphones, so there’s really no excuse not to use one.”

Finally, the best advice is to avoid accessing public Wi-Fi except when absolutely necessary, but if you do, following some safety steps could work to keep your personal information more secure.

For details:  How to Stay Safe While Using Public Wi-Fi

Image Credit:  Deposit Photos

Related Posts