{"id":2304,"date":"2013-10-09T16:45:21","date_gmt":"2013-10-09T08:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=2304"},"modified":"2013-10-09T17:08:00","modified_gmt":"2013-10-09T09:08:00","slug":"hot-security-tips-to-help-keep-you-safe-on-public-wi-fi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2013\/10\/09\/hot-security-tips-to-help-keep-you-safe-on-public-wi-fi\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot security tips to help keep you safe on public Wi-Fi"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kaspersky_wifi_tips\"<\/a>In a recent survey, 70% of tablet owners and 53% of smartphone\/mobile phone owners stated that they use public Wi-Fi hotspots.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, because data sent through public Wi-Fi can easily be intercepted, many mobile device and laptop users are risking the security of their personal information, digital identity and money.<\/p>\n

And if a device or computer is not protected by an effective security and anti-malware product, the risks are even greater.<\/p>\n

Wireless Security tips \u2014 to help keep you safe on public Wi-Fi<\/strong><\/p>\n

With coffee shops, hotels, shopping malls, airports and many other locations offering their customers free access to public Wi-Fi, it\u2019s a convenient way to check your emails, catch up on social networking or surf the web when you\u2019re out and about.<\/p>\n

But cybercriminals will often spy on public Wi-Fi networks and intercept data that is transferred across the link. By doing so, the criminal can access users\u2019 banking credentials, account passwords and other valuable information.<\/p>\n

Here are some useful tips from Kaspersky Lab\u2019s team of Internet security experts:<\/p>\n

* Be aware<\/strong>
\nPublic Wi-Fi is inherently insecure \u2014 so be cautious.<\/p>\n

* Remember \u2014 any device could be at risk<\/strong>
\nLaptops, smartphones and tablets are all susceptible to the wireless security risks.<\/p>\n

* Treat all Wi-Fi links with suspicion<\/strong>
\nDon\u2019t just assume that the Wi-Fi link is legitimate. It could be a bogus link that has been set up by a cybercriminal that is trying to capture valuable, personal information from unsuspecting users. Question everything \u2014 and don\u2019t connect to an unknown or unrecognized wireless access point.<\/p>\n

* Try to verify the legitimacy of a wireless connection<\/strong>
\nSome bogus links \u2014 that have been set up by malicious users \u2014 will have a connection name that\u2019s deliberately similar to the coffee shop, hotel or venue that\u2019s offering free Wi-Fi. If you can speak with an employee at the location that\u2019s providing the public Wi-Fi connection, ask for information about their legitimate Wi-Fi access point \u2014 such as the connection\u2019s name and IP address.<\/p>\n

* Use a VPN (virtual private network)<\/strong>
\nBy using a VPN when you connect to a public Wi-Fi network, you\u2019ll effectively be using a \u2018private tunnel\u2019 that encrypts all of your data that passes through the network. This can help prevent cybercriminals \u2014 that are lurking on the network \u2014 from intercepting your data.<\/p>\n

* Avoid using specific types of website<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s a good idea to avoid logging into websites where there\u2019s a chance that cybercriminals could capture your identity, passwords or personal information \u2014 such as social networking sites, online banking services or any websites that store your credit card information.<\/p>\n

* Consider using your mobile phone<\/strong>
\nIf you need to access any websites that store or require the input of any sensitive information \u2014 including social networking, online shopping and online banking sites \u2014 it may be worthwhile accessing them via your mobile phone network, instead of the public Wi-Fi connection.<\/p>\n

* Protect your device against cyberattacks<\/strong>
\nMake sure all of your devices are protected by a rigorous anti-malware and security<\/a> solution \u2014 and ensure that it\u2019s updated as regularly as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a recent survey, 70% of tablet owners and 53% of smartphone \/ mobile phone owners stated that they use public Wi-Fi hotspots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[286,117,780],"class_list":["post-2304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-software","tag-it-security","tag-kaspersky-lab","tag-wifi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}