We have heard about unsecured wifi or wifi networks which are not protected. It is often said not to use such wifi. If you are doing any banking on unsecured wifi then you should not even try. Your all information can be tracked through a public or unknown wifi and can even be stored.
What is unsecured wifi?
There are a lot of wifis in airports, stations or other public places. Few of these wifis are protected by passwords and also there are few who don’t have a password. So these type of wifi which does not have any kind of password or they are just open are known as unsecured or unknown wifi, luring you to browse freely.
If you use this type of wifi then there can be many problems waiting for you like snooping of data which can be easily done or it can take you to malicious sites. Someone can try to enter in your mobile or laptop and try to gain access to it. An attacker can take your sensitive information like passwords, credit card details and much more can be done.
Problems you can face:
There are a host of problems that you will face if you are connected to unsecured wifi. Your laptop or mobile can be infected with a virus and because of this, your information can be stolen. Encryption helps in protecting a Wifi network. In secured wifi, no one can see which web pages you are viewing. If anyone is connected to your wifi then also that person cannot see what you are searching. But when you connect to a public wifi or any unsecured wifi in coffee shops, airports then that network is generally unencrypted. This is because you don’t have to enter a passphrase when you are connecting to that wifi. Your web pages are clearly visible to Administrator of that wifi and to other people those who are using that wifi. You can be directed to Phishing sites, malicious sites from these Wifi’s.
Protect yourself:
- If you want to access any sensitive info on a unsecured wifi then try to do on Https based website. Https protocol will redirect to encrypted pages of a website.
- If you frequently visit public wifi then you can pay for a VPN. Whenever you connect to a VPN public will only see that you are connected to Network but they can not see what you are doing.
- If you connect a laptop or a computer to a public wifi then in windows select the “Public network” option. Never select “Home network” or “Work Network” options.
- Always keep your computer software up to date and enable the firewalls.
