Free public WiFi can be tempting.
Whether it is in cafe, an airport or a shopping centre, free Wi-Fi is very tempting. Who wouldn’t want faster data, without the cost. But, as with anything that is free, be very careful!
It is very easy to become a victim of something called a ‘Man in the Middle’ attack. This is essentially eavesdropping. A hacker gets into the network, or sets up a dummy WiFi network that looks like a legitimate one, and reads the data you send. That would almost certainly include login credentials, emails and more.
They can even use the connection to spread malware to your device, and any device you use, like your phone, that isn’t fully up to date, is especially vulnerable.
One of our colleagues recently ran a test at their gym. While they were there, they decided to connect to the Wi-Fi and do a network scan. Imagine their surprise to find they could connect to the Router, Switches, Security Cameras, reception computer and even the Treadmills. After all, everything seems to be network capable nowadays! They didn’t attempt to login to these but we would guess these items might easily still have default passwords, especially given how relaxed their security seemed to be.
What can you do?
- Don’t automatically connect to unknown WiFi networks
- Only use “https” websites
- When on public Wifi, don’t access any network that holds your private data
- Use VPNs where possible
- Use a secure password vault so that you can have unique and complex passwords for all your regular sites.
For more information, refer Dangers of Public WiFi: What You Need to Know in 2022 (cloudwards.net)
