When travelling in the past, we only had to worry about packing a bag and having our favourite playlist to play along the way. Currently, all these technological changes have added to our worries. We now need to stay connected to the internet. We constantly want to check what’s happening in our social spaces and remote work platforms or even stream a movie.
Sometimes your flight might be delayed at the airport, and this can make you feel like you’re stuck. So what do you do at that moment? Can you connect to a public Wi-Fi hotspot? Our mobile devices provide most of the entertainment these days. We commonly turn to our mobile devices and scroll through or play our favourite games at an online casino as well as access shopping sites or make transactions via our banking apps.
Access to this private financial information is a particularly important point which many consumers are conscious of. For instance, to refer back to the online casino example above, many consumers use alternative payment methods when depositing or withdrawing funds from their online casino accounts. The best online casino in Canada will offer traditional banking options in addition to Neteller, Skrill, and other digital wallets so that consumers can access the additional security blanket that digital wallets provide. It’s in this vein that the wariness of public wifi is in.
You might also be tempted to connect to a public Wi-Fi; we’re here to tell you this might not be the best idea.
Cyber experts say connecting to public hotspots opens your data to possible criminal activity. They say that even with a password, it’s likely not to protect you but only to limit use.
How to Protect Yourself From Public Wi-Fi Cyber Attacks
- Always confirm the name of the Wi-Fi hotspots with staff members or people working there. Always double-check, and if in doubt, don’t connect.
- Disable the Wi-Fi auto-connect feature on your phone. This feature automatically connects your phone to the nearest open network. The danger with this is that you could find yourself connected to some malicious network that could access your most sensitive information.
- Don’t connect to Ad hoc networks because their security is tough to determine.
- Use a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN always allows secure connection, even within a public network. A VPN allows secure connection by providing privacy and anonymous connectivity and converting a public connection into a private one. It simply hides your online activity. This makes any online activity untraceable and safe from cyber-attacks, which are deliberate and malicious attempts by organisations or individuals to access sensitive information of another organisation or individual. The attacker will typically have some financial gain from this activity. There are many safe VPNs available on the internet at a reasonable price. You can find some as low as $3 per month.
- Check your URLs. Always check that the site begins with HTTPS and not HTTP because the S means the site is secure.
- Use your mobile data. Always use your mobile data, especially when accessing your banking app or other payment sites. Connecting with your data may be expensive, but it’s better than recovering stolen information or, let alone, losing all your money. Use your mobile data because it is secure.
If you connect to a public network anyway, always ensure that you don’t access any sensitive or private information you wouldn’t want to share because there are always snoopers. If they find nothing when they get your information, they could easily keep it and use it to track you and still access what they want from you later.
Stay Safe from Cyber Attack
With so many reasons you might want to use a public Wi-Fi connection, always remember the dangers of doing this. Always remember when connecting, you are putting yourself at risk of infecting your computer with malware, losing all your money and becoming a victim of identity theft.
Travelling is something we all enjoy, but connecting to the wrong public network could quickly become a nightmare. As tempting as public networks are because they are free, never underestimate the possibility of a cyber-attack. Always use the guidelines we have put out for you at the top, and enjoy your trip.
