How To Stay Safe When Using Public Wifi

How can you Stay Safe When Using Public Wifi? With so many people that use public wifi zones everyday, whether it is at a coffee shop, an airport lounge, the school library or at a hotel, wifi zones are everywhere. But what most people don’t realise, is how unsafe they can really be. Wifi zones are a great service, allowing convenient internet access, mostly without a charge, to anyone with an internet-enabled device. This of course, includes most of the population of first world countries. But there is darker side, so this is how to stay safe when using public wifi.

The problem with public wifi zones are that they are open to absolutely anyone, so the flip side to the accessibility is that it can also be open to hackers. This ultimately means your data is not secure when transmitted over these kinds of networks. With data being unsecured, whether it is emails, messages sent over Facebook, or even account details, there is no way of knowing who is monitoring your activity. But it isn’t as simple as avoiding public wifi networks, because for many people, that isn’t possible. So, the question is Is It Possible to Stay Safe When Using Public Wifi?

If you are a regular traveller, whether for work or leisure, you might have to rely on public wifi zones. For example backpackers have no choice but to connect to the hostel wifi, whether its for checking their online banking or just contacting friends and family back home. Or if you are regularly away for business, then hotel or airport wifi might be your only options for working remotely. So there are a number of steps you can protect yourself.

First thing is to turn off sharing, something that many people don’t think of when they leave the security of their own home network. At home, you may share pinter access, music to streaming devices, or even just files to other computers in your house, but on a public network, these still might be accessible. Another aspect to online activity that is overlooked, is your firewall. Most of the time these can be frustrating and get in the way of configuring new setups or block certain connections coming in. But on a public network, this isn’t so helpful.

Finally, the best protection when using a public wifi zone is by using a VPN service. By signing up to Le VPN you will be creating a secure and encrypted tunnel direct to the internet wherever you connect from, no matter what device you use. A VPN masks your online presence, allowing you to browse the internet safely, free from anyone snooping on you.