Don't Go On Public Wi-FI Before Reading This!

We Investigate How Safe You Really Are On Free Public Wi-Fi

Public WiFi is a fantastic thing, the freedom you feel of using your laptop in a coffee shop is a new age delight, But just how safe is connecting to these free open networks? What are the dangers which are waiting to compromise your personal details? And How can you stay safe and protected?

According to a Nielsen/Harris poll in March 2014, over 66% of U.S adults say they have used public WiFi with over a quarter of those admitting to checking a bank account whilst on an open, unprotected internet connection. It can seem completely harmless as the dangers aren't visible whatsoever, but they are certainly real...

A public WiFi connection is rarely protected properly, meaning hackers can intercept requests being made on the network. An example of a request is hitting "Login" on a social media site, this sends your username/email and password over the network, to the servers of the website you are using which checks if they are correct.

If you are using public WiFi, you should hope you have input your details incorrectly, as they could well have just been sent straight to a criminal's computer! The majority of people use the same password for almost every account or service, so once one domino falls, the rest are likely to follow. Their next target is normally your email account because it can be used as a "master key" for every other account/service, sending requests to reset a password to whatever they choose.

The ramifications caused by simply signing in to a social network may seem bad, but the effects are far worse when you use your banking details on a free public wifi network: in the same way that social media logins are sent to a hacker's computer (oversimplification), credit/debit card details and banking logins are susceptible. As you can imagine, credit card details can be exploited far more than social media logins. They can be used to empty your bank account or even sold on the dark web, both of which being awful options for the victim!