Be careful if you connect to public WiFi

[GeorgeJohn]

You are right about this and we have discussed about it on this forum often, but your topic about it after a long time ago is also good so that many newbies can learn from it.

Yeah! I know that op is right base on security purpose..but if you don't have what that will be expose through Internet in your device, I dont think that it's important be that conscious by ignoring the WiFi offer...

When I rent hotel room which is the place I noticed I am being offered free WiFi, I just decline it. I have enough data already and it is a huge amount of data.

You can decline, because you have some certain documents you need it to remain in privacy...but someone who doesn't have anything that's keeping in privacy will use their signal....Another thing we should know is that not all the cyber cafe you connected to their network can have access to your information...And they can't have access to some of your login..we dont need to be getting scared of free WiFi like that...

[kawetsriyanto]

If you often visiting cafe to hanging around with your friends, you should be careful using public WiFi. We don't know how the cafe set the security for their customers but I heard the cafe can trace their customers activity while connecting to the WiFi.

Agree. We need to avoid using public wifi if we have some important apps in our devices. Sure, there is no guarantee for the safety of the public wifi, moreover it is the public wifi of Cafe.

I know this from conversation with my cousin when I meet him few days ago, he told me that many cafe's offers free WiFi to attract customers visiting their place. But some local cafe or public service places use this chance to gets the internet history of their customers, even they can get the log of banking credentials of their customers.

This story describes well how dangerous the public wifi on the Cafe. Yep, the Wifi owner is possible to track the internet history of the customers. This is a serious warning for everyone, it is better to avoid using public wifi although it looks interesting because it is free.

Your security will be your responsibility so make sure that you can be careful if you connect to public WiFi and don't login to anything personal.

You're right. It is our own responsibility. We all know the public wifi is dangerous, it is our own mistake if we keep using it. We can't solely blame those bad owners of the Cafe.

[Big Dirams]

If you often visiting cafe to hanging around with your friends, you should be careful using public WiFi. We don't know how the cafe set the security for their customers but I heard the cafe can trace their customers activity while connecting to the WiFi.

Agree. We need to avoid using public wifi if we have some important apps in our devices. Sure, there is no guarantee for the safety of the public wifi, moreover it is the public wifi of Cafe.

I know this from conversation with my cousin when I meet him few days ago, he told me that many cafe's offers free WiFi to attract customers visiting their place. But some local cafe or public service places use this chance to gets the internet history of their customers, even they can get the log of banking credentials of their customers.

This story describes well how dangerous the public wifi on the Cafe. Yep, the Wifi owner is possible to track the internet history of the customers. This is a serious warning for everyone, it is better to avoid using public wifi although it looks interesting because it is free.

Your security will be your responsibility so make sure that you can be careful if you connect to public WiFi and don't login to anything personal.

You're right. It is our own responsibility. We all know the public wifi is dangerous, it is our own mistake if we keep using it. We can't solely blame those bad owners of the Cafe.

This is really a good reminder to many people who always find free Wi-Fi as a reason to visit some Cafe. I know someone that always visit places that offers free Wi-Fi and buy their stuffs and when they don’t offer Wi-Fi then he’s not going to get anything from that store.
After going through this post and read how risky it can’t be with this free Wi-Fi and how they can easily gain access through our internet activities, then I bring it to his notice that how easily things can be exposed when using free Wi-Fi and now he knowns and his security conscious right now about using free Wi-Fi.

People will go so far just to take anything from others, the world is just a cruel place to be and the more we keep finding out how the world is dangerous the more we get to know deeper and be very conscious on minor things we take for granted.

[Baki202]

We have been taking things for granted, and when you tell people to use wallets instead of exchanges, I don't blame some of them because they don't even have the necessary knowledge to distinguish between wallets and exchanges. In addition, we users and those with Bitcoin or any other coin should use 2fa authentication. As others have said, using public wifi can be exploited by hackers, so we must avoid anything that will make us vulnerable to attacks. And  one major thing is to always use a different device from what you are using to hold your assets.

[Gost ms]

If you often visiting cafe to hanging around with your friends, you should be careful using public WiFi. We don't know how the cafe set the security for their customers but I heard the cafe can trace their customers activity while connecting to the WiFi.

Agree. We need to avoid using public wifi if we have some important apps in our devices. Sure, there is no guarantee for the safety of the public wifi, moreover it is the public wifi of Cafe.

I know this from conversation with my cousin when I meet him few days ago, he told me that many cafe's offers free WiFi to attract customers visiting their place. But some local cafe or public service places use this chance to gets the internet history of their customers, even they can get the log of banking credentials of their customers.

This story describes well how dangerous the public wifi on the Cafe. Yep, the Wifi owner is possible to track the internet history of the customers. This is a serious warning for everyone, it is better to avoid using public wifi although it looks interesting because it is free.

Your security will be your responsibility so make sure that you can be careful if you connect to public WiFi and don't login to anything personal.

You're right. It is our own responsibility. We all know the public wifi is dangerous, it is our own mistake if we keep using it. We can't solely blame those bad owners of the Cafe.

This is really a good reminder to many people who always find free Wi-Fi as a reason to visit some Cafe. I know someone that always visit places that offers free Wi-Fi and buy their stuffs and when they don’t offer Wi-Fi then he’s not going to get anything from that store.
After going through this post and read how risky it can’t be with this free Wi-Fi and how they can easily gain access through our internet activities, then I bring it to his notice that how easily things can be exposed when using free Wi-Fi and now he knowns and his security conscious right now about using free Wi-Fi.

People will go so far just to take anything from others, the world is just a cruel place to be and the more we keep finding out how the world is dangerous the more we get to know deeper and be very conscious on minor things we take for granted.

Small things create big risks and this small thing can create a big risk for a person. Many people I know like to use free WIF and I myself used to like to use free WIF a lot. A few days ago, I was walking on the road and suddenly a place's WIF was connected and I immediately turned off the Auto connect of my WIF.

As a result, we have to face many big problems, such as our information can be stolen. You have Bitcoin, if this information is stolen then you can be at risk and some person or someone can try to harm you and steal your Bitcoin. So always refrain yourself from making such small mistakes and be careful.

[Charleslie]

In today's world free WiFi is everywhere. It is convenient and helps to  save Mobile data , but not every WiFi network is safe for us when using public WiFi , on thing you should know is to avoid logging into you bank details while using the public WiFi because someone might intercept the connection and they may also gain access to information you never intended to share to anyone. Technology makes life easier but convenience should never come at the cost of your privacy and security.

[Queen uloma]

In today's world free WiFi is everywhere. It is convenient and helps to  save Mobile data , but not every WiFi network is safe for us when using public WiFi , on thing you should know is to avoid logging into you bank details while using the public WiFi because someone might intercept the connection and they may also gain access to information you never intended to share to anyone. Technology makes life easier but convenience should never come at the cost of your privacy and security.

You’re very correct, Free WiFi is helpful because it help us save mobile data, but we ain’t supposed to trust every public network. If you’re using public WiFi,  ensure you don’t login into your bank app, your crypto wallet or any of your account that has a sensitive information because hackers can intercept your connection and steal your personal Details.

If the issue isn’t urgent, it’s better to wait until you connect to a trusted network before you can proceed on any important transaction.  Saving data is good but protecting your privacy and money is suppose to come first.

[moneystery]

From the start, I've never been a fan of free public Wi-Fi. Honestly, besides the greater risk to your security and privacy, I can say that the internet speed on public Wi-Fi in my area is terrible, especially in crowded places, even just accessing an app takes a long time to load.
I prefer to sacrifice my data plan to access the internet. It's safer and less expensive, as it's only $15 for a data plan, which is enough for me to stream and do various other things. And I can use my second smartphone for data tethering.

[ImGenius]

Sometimes it happens that when the mobile does not have an internet connection but we have to make payments through the bank online then public WiFi is the only hope. In this situation we must use public WiFi but if we take some precautions we can save ourselves.For example

• Keep 2FA on in the bank account so that even if hackers somehow get the password they cannot fully access the account.
• if the bank supports VPN then use a trusted VPN.
• If you use a browser then definitely check if HTTPS is written or not. Hackers change HTTPS to HTTP which is not secure at all In that case it is better to use the bank app.

[Fiasem20]

I’ve been hearing of this tactics and finally someone raised the topic here on this forum,topics like this should be considered important because those little mistakes most people call minor mistakes are the ones that can pull down a mighty wall.Anyways,I only connect public WI-FI for some certain reasons like downloading seasonal movies so if they wanna trace down my history they would land in my movie box account lol.If your traditional bank account can get compromised because you connected a public WI-FI and logged into your bank app how much more your crypto wallet and exchange,we just have to stay informed at all cost and be guided.

[MusaPk]

We have been taking things for granted, and when you tell people to use wallets instead of exchanges, I don't blame some of them because they don't even have the necessary knowledge to distinguish between wallets and exchanges. In addition, we users and those with Bitcoin or any other coin should use 2fa authentication. As others have said, using public wifi can be exploited by hackers, so we must avoid anything that will make us vulnerable to attacks. And  one major thing is to always use a different device from what you are using to hold your assets.

If your coins are stored in your decentralised wallet then best practise is to keep that wallet on a device that remains off line most of the time. If you are storing everything on mobile that remains online all the time and you also connect that with free wi-fi then you are taking a big risk. We need to be fully aware of the fact that in case your coins are lost due to any reason there is no way to recover them again. If you want to avoid any damage then never take security for granted in crypto domain.   

[Emitdama]

We have been taking things for granted, and when you tell people to use wallets instead of exchanges, I don't blame some of them because they don't even have the necessary knowledge to distinguish between wallets and exchanges. In addition, we users and those with Bitcoin or any other coin should use 2fa authentication. As others have said, using public wifi can be exploited by hackers, so we must avoid anything that will make us vulnerable to attacks. And  one major thing is to always use a different device from what you are using to hold your assets.

People often overlook this, but it's actually a very important thing. When you know that you are using crypto wallets, banking apps, or any other app that you use to manage your finances, then you are not supposed to be using the same device for everything else. I mean, if you are surfing the internet, using social media, downloading games and apps in the same device where you have your financial apps, you are basically putting yourself under a lot of risks, because scammers, hackers, and exploiters are getting smarter day by day, and they are finding different ways to get into your device and compromise your apps and data available in your device.

This is why, anyone who knows that they have significant amounts of money in their financial apps, and that they are managing them all through one device, then they should take the initiative and buy another device for other activities and keep the device with financial apps and data away from all those things. You shouldn't use public wifi with that device, you shouldn't carry it around everywhere because we know robberies and snatching all these things are also possible, so keep it somewhere safe at home, and for normal transactions, just keep one wallet with a small amount in your regular device that you can use when you are outside.

[MarryWithBTC]

Sometimes it happens that when the mobile does not have an internet connection but we have to make payments through the bank online then public WiFi is the only hope. In this situation we must use public WiFi but if we take some precautions we can save ourselves.For example

How will your mobile phone not get internet connection? Or do you mean when you do not have data subscription? Anything concerning money is not something to be done in a haste. We can delay thee transaction until network is restored.

• if the bank supports VPN then use a trusted VPN.

How will you be able to use the VPN while using internet from public wifi?

• If you use a browser then definitely check if HTTPS is written or not. Hackers change HTTPS to HTTP which is not secure at all In that case it is better to use the bank app.

This has nothing to do with connecting to the wrong a malicious wifi and being monitored or hacked. Hackers don't need you to open your browser before they will steal your information.

[ImGenius]

How will your mobile phone not get internet connection? Or do you mean when you do not have data subscription? Anything concerning money is not something to be done in a haste. We can delay thee transaction until network is restored.
 

It's true that we shouldn't haste when it comes to money but sometimes we got in a situation where we don't have other choice for example if we don't have cash and mobile data has run out, also can't access bank (because of no internet) to buy more data In a situation we have to use public WiFi.

How will you be able to use the VPN while using internet from public wifi?

That's not true. Vpn needs internet connection to run, we can definitely use VPN using public WiFi. Also not every bank support VPN connection and a VPN doesn't make public WiFi completely risk free it mainly protects from local eavesdropping.

This has nothing to do with connecting to the wrong a malicious wifi and being monitored or hacked. Hackers don't need you to open your browser before they will steal your information.

It's true that https can't protect us every time. It's still a important security layer because it encrypt information not every hackers can do that. If combined with banking app it become more secure.

Avoid public WiFi for financial transection if you absolutely need to use public WiFi obviously combined with multiple security layer.

[AprilioMP]

If you use free WiFi from a cafe or local store or hotel, you should not login to your mobile banking app but if you really need to login to your mobile banking app, make sure you use data connection from your phone to avoids the hacking.

Your security will be your responsibility so make sure that you can be careful if you connect to public WiFi and don't login to anything personal.

PS: I am sorry if this is not the right board. Please tell me and I will move it to the right one.

It’s true that anyone who wants to use free Wi-Fi provided in public places should always be careful, because we never know how they handle user activity. In my area, many cafes offer free Wi-Fi as a way to attract customers, but I believe that the places where I’ve used free Wi-Fi aren’t particularly concerned about their networks—other than changing the login password once every two days.

In my own internet usage habits, I rarely use public Wi-Fi because my mobile data plan is sufficient for my needs.