By
Norton June 23, 2022
Summary: WiFi is available almost everywhere these days — from the hotel you’re staying at to the coffee shop where you’re grabbing breakfast. It’s great that these networks are so easy to access… but that means it’s easy for hackers to access them, too. Get the top tips for how to stay safer when connecting to public WiFi so your information doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.
While it may seem convenient to connect to public WiFi in a hotel lobby, coffee shop, or airport, public WiFi is notoriously unsecure. If you’re not cautious, you may expose your most sensitive information to cybercriminals.
Unlike the WiFi you connect to at home or at work, public WiFi doesn’t require authentication to establish a secure connection. Sometimes you don’t even need to enter a password, which might seem convenient if you want to quickly peruse the internet while waiting or enjoying a meal, but it also makes you an easy target for hackers.
By positioning themselves between you and your WiFi connection, hackers can spy on your online activity, read messages you send, or snag your passwords to portals with sensitive information (like banking or email accounts). Hackers can also send malware to your devices while you’re online.
The best way to help protect yourself from cybercriminals is to not connect to public WiFi on your devices. A personal hotspot from your phone may be a more secure solution. Make sure you include a strong, unique password for your hotspot to keep unwanted people from hopping on your connection.
If you find yourself in a pinch, here are a few musts to boost your device security if you’re using a public network.
The bottom line is this: public WiFi may seem like the easiest solution to access the internet while on the go, but it is also an easy way to fall victim to a cybercriminal.
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