Free Wi-Fi is great. It seems like the last few years have seen an explosion in Wi-Fi coverage. At this point, there are even apps that will lead you to cafes and restaurants with free Wi-Fi in your area. Pretty nifty. But most people never stop to think about the security implications of all this open Wi-Fi.
People who take this functionality for granted will jump on open Wi-Fi networks to do all the same stuff they do at home without blinking an eye. They leave file sharing on, they make travel reservations, do banking and online shopping, type in email and work login passwords, and so on. All this information could be scooped up by a savvy predator on the same network.
I log into free Wi-Fi whenever I can to see what people are doing and it’s pretty surprising. People don’t turn off file sharing, so there are usually at least a couple of iTunes libraries visible. Public folders too. If you put something sensitive in there, you could easily be in trouble.
I just looked in my Public folder, for instance, and I found a copy of a paystub I had forgotten that I put in there. If I did not make a point of turning off all sharing when I go out, that information (including my Social Security number) would have been there for the taking. And that’s just the beginning. It is possible for someone to trick your computer into routing all your internet traffic through their machine. Imagine the guy sitting across the room from you just sifting his way through your browsing session and you’ll get an idea of how creepy this can be.
Many companies set up secure VPN connections on their employees’ computers so they can connect to company servers and resources over a public network with minimal risk. For consumers, there are some options as well, and one involves Terminal that will keep you (and your data) safe and secure. The only trick is that you will need another machine at home connected to the internet. Look for that article next week!