Be careful if you connect to public WiFi

[Obari]

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.

If one can afford to pay for an hotel room, why can't they afford to buy data but rather would prefer to use public WiFi?
I can remember back then, the only thing I enjoyed using public WiFi for was to download movies and I would
Just download as much as I want and that's it.

Op thank you for drawing our attention to this again as it would serve as a remainder to those who already forgot never to be careless with their safety while using public networks it better still avoid using it entirely .

Sometimes, these people that who use the WiFi of hotels they lodge in doesn't do so because they can't afford buy data or subscribe to their personal internet networks, they do it because they wanna save cost and in most cases, aren't even aware of the risks involved. They don't know that through these public internet connections, their personal data can be exposed. They just want to connect and browse the internet.

You're very correct mate and just as they say that, ignorance is a disease and yes I've seen some set of teenagers talking about how they already recovered the money they spent lodging a hotel because of the amount of data they already consumed from the hotel and if for nothing, I couldn't laugh because they also forget that, the hotel could be on an unlimited monthly subscription which simply means that, no matter the amount of data consumed within the month, the subscription wouldn't be exhausted and to their teenagers, security and safety if their personal informations wasn't paramount as what mattered to them was the amount of data they already consumed.

[lovesmayfamilis]

You're very correct mate and just as they say that, ignorance is a disease and yes I've seen some set of teenagers talking about how they already recovered the money they spent lodging a hotel because of the amount of data they already consumed from the hotel and if for nothing, I couldn't laugh because they also forget that, the hotel could be on an unlimited monthly subscription which simply means that, no matter the amount of data consumed within the month, the subscription wouldn't be exhausted and to their teenagers, security and safety if their personal informations wasn't paramount as what mattered to them was the amount of data they already consumed.

Yes, that’s right. I remembered the story of someone who, using public Wi‑Fi and not expecting anything, lost quite a significant amount. Anyone who likes getting things for free can read this and understand that when you use something for free, you’re, in one way or another, giving up something of your own, and sometimes this ends up being much more expensive than free traffic and the hotel stay itself.  https://www.chaincatcher.com/en/article/2236248

[osasshem]

For a crypto enthusiasts, the need to know about security breaches and protection are very important, so as to protect your cryptocurrencies, but for the fact that most people don't take this into consideration and having this mindset that the free WiFi is password secured, makes the feeling of using it safe.

Where the concerns matters is the person who is at the control room and the next person who is also connected to the same WiFi.

[PX-Z]

For a crypto enthusiasts, the need to know about security breaches and protection are very important, so as to protect your cryptocurrencies, but for the fact that most people don't take this into consideration and having this mindset that the free WiFi is password secured, makes the feeling of using it safe.

Where the concerns matters is the person who is at the control room and the next person who is also connected to the same WiFi.

Hacking passwords while connecting to public free wifi or rouge wifi is to hard nowadays since new websites and browser security can intercept on that. But that doesn't mean they cant get access your account. Usually its always through phishing or session hacking. As for wallets, a malicious dex app or malicious smart contracts, clipboard malware or swapping address, these wont do on just minutes, they will observe you for hours or days of your crypto activity, say if you and your family checked in on a hotel or resort just like what had shared a reply before you.

[Jostle]

Do not connect to unsecured public wifi, as this will likely capture all your net surfing habits (top level domain names), although https now is end-to-end and does not really allow them to capture your credentials. That said, they could take the chance to infect your mobile phone.

WPA2 is the most safe. But I'd also not connect to it where possible. These days, the mobile plans are really dirt cheap. There's no need to save a few dollars (or cents) or even any savings at all, to risk having your phone compromised.

Some public wifi are honeypots.  It capture more info about you than you imagine.

[Doan9269]

Public Wi-Fi should not be what we should easily connect to like that, especially when you discover an open one, know that some may be using it as a trick to trap some users, if you think you are looking for something free then you will end up being a victim of an attempted scam, it's cost nothing for everyone to subscribe data to their device for internet connectivity than connect for what will later affect them or places vulnerability upon their device, some newbies don't know this trick for any possible attempt to scam.

[Mate2237]

There are public WiFi's in different places like a restaurant, hotel, lounge and so on but a lot of people don't realize the dangers of connecting or linking their device to this, hackers can organize a wifi network to get the personal data of people that connects to it and this personal data includes your bank app, social media, contacts and so on. The only way you can protect your files from being hacked when connecting to a public WiFi is to make use of Firefox.

There are people that see unauthorized withdrawals from their bank account and they Wonder how this happened because they know fully well that they don't share their login details with anyone, a lot of times it's mostly hackers that stole their personal information through this means.

[L E G E N D A R Y]

Public Wi-Fi should not be what we should easily connect to like that, especially when you discover an open one, know that some may be using it as a trick to trap some users, if you think you are looking for something free then you will end up being a victim of an attempted scam, it's cost nothing for everyone to subscribe data to their device for internet connectivity than connect for what will later affect them or places vulnerability upon their device, some newbies don't know this trick for any possible attempt to scam.

Not all public WiFi networks are actually a threat, But if eventually you have to get connected to a public WiFi but don’t really trust it, there are a few things you could actually don’t protect your device. First of all would be to try using a reputable VPN during the time of being connected, and it’s important to make sure you avoid logging it to your bank apps or even wallets  and disable any form of data /file sharing, I think you should be just fine if you do these.

[DYOR+BTC]

The rate at which many are been scammed while using public network is getting out of hand, on this we need to be very careful to avoid been affected by what we all know all because we choose to be stingy to ourselves. Many gets affected while using public Internet not because they don't know its bad  but because they believe in enjoying free things without knowing that free things at times is  very dangerous, to avoid this, i will say we need to be very careful in the things we do to avoid been affected by the things we consider very common.

[Swift_tr]

I had no Idea about this, thank you for the information. From now on I'll be careful with public WiFi. Imagine getting your bank information, that's bad and a breach of security and privacy.

[SOKO-DEKE]

The rate at which many are been scammed while using public network is getting out of hand, on this we need to be very careful to avoid been affected by what we all know all because we choose to be stingy to ourselves. Many gets affected while using public Internet not because they don't know its bad  but because they believe in enjoying free things without knowing that free things at times is  very dangerous, to avoid this, i will say we need to be very careful in the things we do to avoid been affected by the things we consider very common.

The best thing is that we should always connect to trusted public Wi-Fi, not any Wi-Fi we see that we feel we should connect to, because some can be a threat to us.As for me, I hardly even connected to public Wi-Fi, even before I started hearing that someone could easily attack others through the misuse of Wi-Fi.due to the places I lived before, whenever someone saw free Wi-Fi, it would be hard to access it. What they did was, whenever someone wanted to make use of it, they had to ask for access first.So, anywhere I see free Wi-Fi, my mind isn't always at ease with it, as some sets of people always think it an advantage whenever see public wifi.

[MusaPk]

For the fact that you don't know and have idea who put up the public WiFi,  it's enough reasons for you not to connect to it because you do not know the true intentions of whomever set it up. It just might be a bait for you to fall into just because it is free of charge. Even government WiFi too is not safe. But if you choose to make use of it, avoid opening some sensitive Apps such as your bank app, notepad where you store sensitive information,  maybe picture's or videos which might also contain sensitive information. Always make sure you have data for browsing because sometimes you might get tempted to use it when you have an emergency which requires you to go online. Sometimes also to update Apps or your phone android version because such consumes data and in so doing you don't know what might be their target and you might just fall victim of their planned act.

If you are accessing your financial or critical data by connecting to freely available WiFi then you are making it easy for hackers to do their job which will be tough otherwise. For hackers, free WiFi is a sort of trap to attract people and every person that connect to such WiFi is a vulnerable to their attacks. We must make it our habit to never connect to free WiFi because results can be devastated. In case its necessary to connect to free WiFi then just make sure that you never access your financial or critical apps while connecting to such networks. Don't forget to disconnect from free WiFi as soon as your important work is done over there.

[AVE5]

That's a very good advice and as well a warning letting beginners be aware that sharing or connecting your device internet with others can be as risky to jeopardize your mobile securities through which, your private datas can be accessed leaving loopholes of the third parties to steal your funds.
I feel very sorry for those crypto user's that uses the mobile wallets and still falls in the categories of connecting their device which their crypto wallets is installed in with public WiFi or any form of unreliable source of individuals internet provider.
As it stance, friends or relatives could as well afford to do us evil, know this so that you don't only consider to be security conscious with strangers or public.
The means by which both teams devices interacts could be technical and not practically explained but the truth is that there're certain sophisticated softwares that gains illegal permissions to access privacies to devices that somehow connects with theirs by online.

[tech30338]

For the fact that you don't know and have idea who put up the public WiFi,  it's enough reasons for you not to connect to it because you do not know the true intentions of whomever set it up. It just might be a bait for you to fall into just because it is free of charge. Even government WiFi too is not safe. But if you choose to make use of it, avoid opening some sensitive Apps such as your bank app, notepad where you store sensitive information,  maybe picture's or videos which might also contain sensitive information. Always make sure you have data for browsing because sometimes you might get tempted to use it when you have an emergency which requires you to go online. Sometimes also to update Apps or your phone android version because such consumes data and in so doing you don't know what might be their target and you might just fall victim of their planned act.

If you are accessing your financial or critical data by connecting to freely available WiFi then you are making it easy for hackers to do their job which will be tough otherwise. For hackers, free WiFi is a sort of trap to attract people and every person that connect to such WiFi is a vulnerable to their attacks. We must make it our habit to never connect to free WiFi because results can be devastated. In case its necessary to connect to free WiFi then just make sure that you never access your financial or critical apps while connecting to such networks. Don't forget to disconnect from free WiFi as soon as your important work is done over there.

Aside from this make sure your phones or devices connected to the public wifi are updated, and other apps, so that they wont have a backdoor into your devices some people forget about this because they are careless, even though you are connected into public wifi, there are still ways to protect your devices, also make sure ports are close, and there is no expose files over the network which might get stolen, but if you can't really make sure those things and are not secure stay away from the public wifi just bring your own data or pocket wifi.

[Comeacross]

Public Wi-Fi should not be what we should easily connect to like that, especially when you discover an open one, know that some may be using it as a trick to trap some users, if you think you are looking for something free then you will end up being a victim of an attempted scam, it's cost nothing for everyone to subscribe data to their device for internet connectivity than connect for what will later affect them or places vulnerability upon their device, some newbies don't know this trick for any possible attempt to scam.

Subscription is not free thou but that should not be an excuse. For anyone that can afford smart phone, subscription should not be hard for them to afford. I don't know about other countries but mobile data subscription is super cheap here and you can easily make a budget for it depending on your usage. Some people naturally chase after free things even if they can afford what they are chasing after without realising that nothing is absolutely free even in Freetown. Lack of awareness is the reason most people do what they do, they don't know the consequences of their actions.

[Ronsbit]

Aside from this make sure your phones or devices connected to the public wifi are updated, and other apps, so that they wont have a backdoor into your devices some people forget about this because they are careless, even though you are connected into public wifi, there are still ways to protect your devices, also make sure ports are close, and there is no expose files over the network which might get stolen, but if you can't really make sure those things and are not secure stay away from the public wifi just bring your own data or pocket wifi.

You have raised a good point here, people fail to understand that a constant update of their phone application is a measure for them to stay safe. The essence of updating phone application s to make sure that the security features of their phone is very strong to prevent hackers and scammers from accessing their phone. Once a new app version is updated, it definitely means that the previous version is outdated and so would require every user of that app to do a quick update and upgrade to the new app version because the security features of the previous version is weak and porous and that is what hackers leverage on via free WiFi which people fall to understand. So it is highly recommended that a constant update on apps should be done regularly to keep our device safe

[MarryWithBTC]

Public Wi-Fi should not be what we should easily connect to like that, especially when you discover an open one, know that some may be using it as a trick to trap some users, if you think you are looking for something free then you will end up being a victim of an attempted scam, it's cost nothing for everyone to subscribe data to their device for internet connectivity than connect for what will later affect them or places vulnerability upon their device, some newbies don't know this trick for any possible attempt to scam.

Subscription is not free thou but that should not be an excuse. For anyone that can afford smart phone, subscription should not be hard for them to afford. I don't know about other countries but mobile data subscription is super cheap here and you can easily make a budget for it depending on your usage. Some people naturally chase after free things even if they can afford what they are chasing after without realising that nothing is absolutely free even in Freetown. Lack of awareness is the reason most people do what they do, they don't know the consequences of their actions.

Sometimes it is not about awareness, some people are too addicted to free things and they forget there are consequences to everything. To every free thing, there's a price to be paid. When I got that divine wisdom, that was how I became conscious of free things.

Some scammers use free wifi as a bait to lure victims. Before using such a free service, we need to ask why it was kept open in the first place.
If it's for promo purposes, it would be understandable, otherwise just totally avoid it.

[Loyang]

Public Wi-Fi should not be what we should easily connect to like that, especially when you discover an open one, know that some may be using it as a trick to trap some users, if you think you are looking for something free then you will end up being a victim of an attempted scam, it's cost nothing for everyone to subscribe data to their device for internet connectivity than connect for what will later affect them or places vulnerability upon their device, some newbies don't know this trick for any possible attempt to scam.

Subscription is not free thou but that should not be an excuse. For anyone that can afford smart phone, subscription should not be hard for them to afford. I don't know about other countries but mobile data subscription is super cheap here and you can easily make a budget for it depending on your usage. Some people naturally chase after free things even if they can afford what they are chasing after without realising that nothing is absolutely free even in Freetown. Lack of awareness is the reason most people do what they do, they don't know the consequences of their actions.

Sometimes it is not about awareness, some people are too addicted to free things and they forget there are consequences to everything. To every free thing, there's a price to be paid. When I got that divine wisdom, that was how I became conscious of free things.

Some scammers use free wifi as a bait to lure victims. Before using such a free service, we need to ask why it was kept open in the first place.
If it's for promo purposes, it would be understandable, otherwise just totally avoid it.

Any kind of thing that is available for free is not good at all, this free thing will definitely bring some kind of danger with it. For example, if we talk about Instagram, then we will see that it does not require any kind of money to run Instagram, but whenever we watch a video, we are shown advertisements and the type of video that we like to watch comes in front of us immediately and the same type of video keeps coming. The reason behind this is that they search our data and by searching, we are invited to the type of video that we want to watch and the type of advertisement that we want to see and we keep watching.

The same is true in the case of WiFi. The person who is giving you free use is definitely enjoying some kind of benefit from you and that is why he is giving you free WiFi.

[PERtua]

A common misconception is that if the cafe owner is connected to the public WiFi. It shouldn't be possible for him to read your banking password. But that is not the case. Nor is it the intent of HTTPS encryption. The larger issue is when they connect to a hotspot or a network controlled by an attacker which could be used to try phishing, manipulate the DNS or conduct attacks on the sessions. The safest practice for crypto users is to never enter seed phrases or private keys on any device while connected to an untrusted network. While a VPN can give you an additional layer of security. It cannot be a replacement for basic security measures. But not all public wi-fi is evil and it can be a very expensive error to believe that everything is secure.

[BitBakerr1]

Public Wi-Fi should not be what we should easily connect to like that, especially when you discover an open one, know that some may be using it as a trick to trap some users, if you think you are looking for something free then you will end up being a victim of an attempted scam, it's cost nothing for everyone to subscribe data to their device for internet connectivity than connect for what will later affect them or places vulnerability upon their device, some newbies don't know this trick for any possible attempt to scam.

Subscription is not free thou but that should not be an excuse. For anyone that can afford smart phone, subscription should not be hard for them to afford. I don't know about other countries but mobile data subscription is super cheap here and you can easily make a budget for it depending on your usage. Some people naturally chase after free things even if they can afford what they are chasing after without realising that nothing is absolutely free even in Freetown. Lack of awareness is the reason most people do what they do, they don't know the consequences of their actions.

Sometimes it is not about awareness, some people are too addicted to free things and they forget there are consequences to everything. To every free thing, there's a price to be paid. When I got that divine wisdom, that was how I became conscious of free things.

How will someone be addicted to free things, you are funny. Let me tell you the only reason why someone will use free things is because they don’t have the money to afford it, if someone have the money to afford something they will not like to use another person’s own, even though it is free.

Some people lacks data a lot and it’s because they don’t have the money to purchase it and once they see a free data they will be very happy to use it not minding the consequences that will come with it.

If someone will have something and still want to use another person‘s own, that person is a greedy person and such a person is not only greedy he’s also stingy to himself.