How to be safe on public wifi & How VPN works

The dangers of public wifi

While public wifi at places like cafes, airports, and hotels are great for being able to stay connected to the internet when you're outside, it also puts your devices in danger of being hacked. Others who are also using the wifi can easily view information that were meant to be private. Just by making one online purchase while being connected to the public wifi, your login information, address, and credit card information can now be stolen. Programs like Firesheep and Wireshark allows people on public wifi to view and hijack other's browsing sessions. Even if your connection is encrypted, as long as they are also using the same connection, hackers can view all of your traffic unencrypted.

Here are some videos if you want more in depth information on this topic!

How to be safe

There are many ways to keep yourself safe when using public wifi

1. The simplest way is to just not connect to public wifis. Using your phone data and hotspot can be an easy alternative.
2. Avoid visiting any websites/apps that hold private information, such as online shopping sites or bank accounts.
3. Turn off auto connection on your devices to prevent them from automatically connecting to public wifis randomly.
4. Use secured wifi networks that require some method of logging in.
5. Don't visit unencrypted websites.
6. Use a VPN.

VPN

You've probably seen ads for companies like Express VPN and Nord VPN... but what really IS a VPN?

VPN, or virtual private network, is one of the easiest and most effective ways of protecting your devices when connecting to public wifis. VPN connects your device to a different server on the internet, and allows you to browse the internet using the server's connection. VPN has multiple usages, such as bypassing geographic restrictions on websites like Youtube and Netflix, and protecting yourself while using public wifi.

When using a VPN, all your network traffic is sent over a secure connection to the VPN, allowing you to use the internet as if you were at the VPN's location instead of your real location. The computer also contacts websites through the encrypted VPN connection, making it harder for others to see ad understand your information.

Here are some videos if you want more in depth information on this topic!

Here are some different VPNs:

Express VPN

Nord VPN

Strong VPN

What to do and what not to do

Here's a table of things to do and not to do when using public wifi

DON'T
shop online
access bank account/other private information
connect to unreliable wifi/hotspots
visit unencrypted websites

DO
use a VPN
connect to secured networks
turn off auto connection for wifi