Securing Data When Using Public WLAN

Each day, everywhere, billions of people use the Internet. That’s not an exaggerated phrase. It’s actually a fact. Millions of people in every country in the world perform various types of digital activities, most of which are online-from browsing websites on home networks to checking email on a phone network to updating social media status on free Wi-Fi connections in coffee shops, cafes, or restaurants.

Sure, public Wi-Fi provides convenience for various types of online digital activities, but using such free convenience can also come with unwanted prices.

A major costs could be your data security. Since the WLAN you are connected to is free and public, everyone else can access it, including hackers, cybercriminals, and other malicious organizations, all of whom have been watching you and your WLAN usage for so long and may be waiting for the right time to get into your data security holes and find something valuable to exploit.

Public WLAN is supposed to be a goldmine for hackers; they dig and dig until they find shiny, useful information that they can steal and put to good use. Hackers may hold different motives, but they could all have the ability to steal your passwords to social media accounts, personal files, private photos, banking and other sensitive accounts.

Without the right protections, you’re dead. Here are three different ways these malicious individuals exploit your free public Wi-Fi.

Three ways public WLAN can be exploited

Man-in-the-middle attacks

From the name itself, this type of data invasion trick that hackers use is a clever strategic technique where they get in the middle of your PCS and the PCS you connect to. Hackers create their own free publicly accessible network.

They usually create such a network with the same or similar name as the one you are currently connecting to. This technique allows them to easily obtain private information and communications while spying With two computer systems connected in the middle. Except through HTTPS or an encrypted page, the victim can normally hardly flee.

Malware

Malware is a type of software that is often what hackers use it to damage machines or bypass computer systems. This app provides them with access to any single item on the device. device-your files, photos, and other private data. This software can even turn on your Pcs camera or microphones without you even knowing it.

Wifi Sniffing

Wifi sniffing is another hacking technique that uses software, worse, the software used is not even illegal. This technique allows hackers to monitor network traffic, access public wifi and record data that is later analyzed for more specific information.

They are basically used to collect data and information in wireless networks. As the software is transmitted, the data is intercepted and decoded into a readable format that hackers can understand.

Unfortunately, these clever hacking techniques can be easily executed by almost any hacker, including the immeasurable ones. That is why it is really very important to arm your data with the necessary protection. Here’s how you can secure your data safely while using public Wi-Fi.

1. Don’t log into sensitive accounts – The safest tip when using free public wifi to ensure data security is to avoid going to banking websites and logging into your accounts. Banks contain money, and that’s what hackers are looking for, at least most of them. If they can hack your accounts on your social media sites, why not bank sites? In this case, you may also want to avoid sharing login credentials and other bank account information with other websites, as most people also tend to send confidential information through such channels.

2. check your firewall regularly – to be on the safe side, it is best to turn off all kinds of file sharing modes on your PC while using public Wi-Fi and always enable your firewall before connecting to a public network.

3. Use a VPN-Virtual private networks like those recommended by Best VPN Canada are one of the safest and most important ways to connect to a free public WLAN. With a VPN, computers can be connected and redirected to a separate, more secure private network.

According to our tests, ExpressVPN Canada has been reported to be the most efficient solution to protect yourself from WLAN hackers.

The truth is, there’s really no place for absolute security, offline or online. All you can ever do is reduce the risks.