CThere has been a lot going on in the world of cybercrime lately. Most notably the free public WiFi scam. What is the free public WiFi scam I hear you ask? Well, for those of you that know about your smartphone’s ‘Hot Spot’ WiFi feature, you will understand how this worked immediately. For those of you that don’t please hold on a second and I will explain.
Basically, people have been using their laptops or other device to advertise a free WiFi hotspot in busy areas. People that think they are being clever by finding one of these free WiFi hotspots and logging onto to it are actually targets for the person allowing them to connect.
Now on your smartphone the ‘Hot Spot’ feature allows anyone else that knows the network name and password to log on to your internet connection on your smartphone. They can then surf the net. It’s handy if your friend has no WiFi signal but you do or if you want to work on the internet from your laptop, so you can connect your laptop to your smartphone’s hot spot. The result is you have a WiFi connection via your GPRS, 3G, or 4G or whatever it is you have.
Imagine a person sitting in a public area, especially where tourists are with no SIM to connect to WiFi, advertising a free WiFi connection with automatic authentication. Sound a little odd to you? Why would anyone give away free internet with no password you have to ask yourself? Most bars will only give you their code if you are in the bar as a paying customer.
The only exception to the rule would usually be an airport, but even then, they want your passport details and the network is advertised all over the airport, so it is hard to not find the correct and safe free airport WiFi.
People that allow free authentication are there to capture data from your connection, access your computer and download files, and steal your financial details.
The Morale of The Story
Never connect to free WiFi systems with no authentication needed. Furthermore, don’t assume just because you are in a place that does offer you WiFi access that there are not internet thieves behind that router with access capturing your information. If you must use WiFi, then try using this German site which you can access here using was ist vpn verbindung.
A VPN is perfect to hide all your internet activity. You do not need it all the time. For example, if you are simply browsing the web, then you can get away without using a VPN. However, if you want to access your bank account or make payments online, and you are on a public WiFi, then give it a go. Once again check out this website was ist eine vpn verbindung for more information.
You can always change your relaxed attitude to surfing the net, and in the end you will be safe from cybercriminals looking to hack your system and steal your identity and even worth your money!
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