The Hazards of Public WiFi

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As people migrate from desktop computing to mobile via their tablets, smartphones and convertible-devices (tablet one second, laptop the next), they need more and more ‘mobile’ internet accessibility. 

With the rise in mobile use, coupled with data charges for cellular users, an ever-growing number of mobile users are making use of public WiFi to access the internet. You can hardly go anywhere that doesn't have public WiFi.

You login at the city park off some neighborhood tower or you tie in via the internet at a coffee shop or fast-food joint. You login to the free WiFi when you check into the hotel or make use of the public network at the airport.

Many times, you've configured your mobile devices to automatically search-out for the strongest WiFi network available and initiate a connection in lieu of your cellular network – all in the spirit of saving money. 

And, if you frequent such places, you may even connect your device automatically – having stored any necessary login credentials the first time you connected.

These connections offer strong signals at the right price – “free.” Is there anything better?

But did you know this type of economical convenience can levy a high price in the form of a cyber attack?

Public WiFi is ripe for cyber-criminal attacks. After all, the majority of people who use these networks tend to be in an upper-middle economic bracket. Many are business people just trying to get some work done over their coffee or lunch break. 

Many airport travelers are either catching a plane for business or personal travel. You're sitting in the terminal waiting at the gate to board a flight to Hawaii wearing a shirt covered in flowers. That is shouting to everyone around you. Expensive vacation, right?

The fact that a cyber thief can gain access to the same network you're using to find fun things to do while on vacation. It also means that with the right software this thief can gain access to your unsecured device and start looking for your credit card or other personal data.

Not only can these cyber criminals invade your devices looking for information, but they can also plant malware into the data you're transmitting over the WiFi. One business traveler getting on a plane in India used the airport WIFI to send an email to his home office. Unknown to him, a hacker managed to implant a Ransomware virus into his email. By the time he returned to his office in England, the entire office was shut down because his secretary had opened the attachment in the email her boss had sent. 

I bet that businessman had a great welcome home. 

Kaspersky Lab recommends you use a VPN (virtual private network) when connecting to your business through an unsecured connection such as WiFi. A leading information technology publication, PC Magazine, recently published its "Best VPN Services for 2017" in which it reported that costs associated with the top offerings were less than $12/month.

Hey, if you're going to use free WiFi the very least you can do is pay a monthly fee for a VPN.

When using WiFi, always insure you're accessing "encrypted" (secure) websites, which always begin with "https://" as opposed to "http." The https is a much more secure connection than the http.

Studies show that few people take the same types of precautions with their mobile devices that they do with their business and home computers. It seems a lot of my readers really like Kaspersky lab products for their computer protection. I know I'm usually giving "Old Pete" a hard time about Kaspersky, even though I rely on its cyber trend reporting for a lot of information.

I wonder how many of my readers, even those using Kaspersky for their home or office computers, are running ‘Kaspersky Total Security’ software on their iPhone, iPad, Android Smartphone or Android? 

Is that a formal recommendation from Murph? Well, only to the extent that I'm telling you that you need to protect your mobile devices. Don’t just assume it has built-in security to prevent invaders.

Avoid the urge to make purchases while you're out and about using WiFi. Surfing for that perfect set of sheets, new leash for Fido or a bikini for the summer should be done somewhere other than public WiFi.

Anytime you're using WiFi, don't transmit sensitive data like your credit card numbers or bank account access information. There are even serious questions about using mobile-device payment methods like Apple Pay. You could be broadcasting your Visa or Bank Account to every cyber thief on the planet, so resist the urge.

This all makes perfect sense. It isn’t anything we haven’t all heard before. In fact, it isn’t anything I haven’t told you before. The real question is, "Are you listening to what I'm telling you?"

If you're interested in finding out more about cyber threats, cyber crime and cyber security, plan to attend my "Cyber Security for You and Your Clients" session at Scaling New Heights 2017.

This year’s conference will be held at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Fla. I'll be teaching this totally new cyber security class on Sunday, June 4, 2017, at 2 p.m. (EST). 

I look forward to seeing you there.