Security of your device and gadgets should be of utmost importance to you and this is because if a hacker gains access to your device, they may have gained unfettered access to your world, no thanks to the fact that many of our lives are sort of wired to the Internet.
One of the easiest ways people can unknowingly give people access to their device is through the use of free wifi-hotspots usually found in public places such as airports, restaurants etc.
If and whenever you can it is advisable to simply avoid them because you never can tell who set it up and what their motives are. In some cases the hackers may not be the owner of the wifi but would simply use a computer to find a back door into the wifi’s router and from there gain access to the private data and information of every single person that is hooked on at that point in time.
In the case of Nigeria, Free Wifi service as a matter of Government policy is not rampant yet but there are some places within a place of Lagos that your phone might alert you to check and enjoy free wifi service, whenever you encounter such, it is advisable to ignore because you might fall into a trap.
This attack is commonly called man-in-the-middle and it proves to be very successful because people like to use free stuff.
If you must use a free Wifi, then here are 4 tips that can helps you:
– Get rid of any compromising data on your phone. Remember, there are no secrets once you are connected to the Internet except of course you implement some high level security protocols even at that anything can still happen.
– Avoid doing the extremely important tasks like Online banking until you hook up to a private network.
– If you ever going to use free wifi, then limit the websites you visit to those with https://
– A VPN service will also serve as extra layer of security when using a free wifi service
– Finally always switch off your Wifi on your phone or computer when not in use because your wifi hardware is transmits data to any network within range as long as it on.
According to secuity company Kaspersky, as mobile WiFi becomes increasingly common, you can expect Internet security issues and public WiFi risks to grow over time.
But this doesn’t mean you have to stay away from free WiFi and tether yourself to a desk again.
The vast majority of hackers are simply going after easy targets, and taking a few precautions should keep your information safe.