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5 things you should not do if you use WiFi away from home

What to avoid on public WiFi

The public Wi-Fi networks, such as in a library, shopping center or airport, can be used by hackers to steal data or passwords. It is necessary to take certain precautions so as not to fall into the trap and that our personal information is not compromised at any time. We always want to have the Internet anywhere, but you have to know the risks.

Make a purchase or payment

An essential thing to avoid when using a public Wi-Fi network is making a purchase on the Internet. This can put your banking data at risk, since in case the page where you buy is not encrypted, an attacker could carry out a Man-in-the-Middle attack and steal the information.

This can affect both the data when logging in to the bank, as well as at the time of payment. Therefore, if you are going to connect from a public network, it is not advisable to carry out these actions. It is important to avoid problems and to be able to maintain security at all times.

Send personal or sensitive data

Something similar can happen with personal information. For example, if you are going to send something through a messaging application, web page, fill out a form… All this could be intercepted if there is a vulnerability or the information travels unencrypted. An intruder on that network could steal your personal information.

Therefore, once again it is important that you avoid sending data and sensitive information over the Internet when you connect to a public WiFi network where you do not really know who may be behind it and how it could affect your security. Prevention in these cases is very important.

Enter HTTP sites

Another thing to avoid is accessing unencrypted sites or HTTPS pages. The reason is the one we have mentioned, and it is that there may be intruders who intercept the connection and can spy on everything you do on the Internet. They could know what sites you visit, what information you send or receive, etc.

HTTPS websites, which are the majority today, will create a layer of security on the data that is sent. Basically it means that they will travel in an encrypted way, as if they were in a tunnel, and they will not be accessible by an attacker who can see the content of everything we send.

Insecure HTTPS pages

Accept terms without reading

Sometimes when connecting to a public WiFi network we are asked to accept certain terms. They ask us fill in personal data like putting the e-mail, telephone, etc. That could be a problem, since maybe that wireless network has been created to collect personal data and then flood us with Spam.

Therefore, if you are going to connect to a WiFi and they ask you to accept some terms or fill in data, read everything very well beforehand. It is important not to fall into the trap and thus prevent personal information from being compromised.

Have the computer unprotected

Of course, another thing to avoid when connecting to public WiFi is having your computer unprotected. It is very important to always have security programs that allow to detect malware and also remove malicious software that may be in the system without your knowledge.

But in addition, another key point is to have the updated system. This will help correct vulnerabilities that may appear at any given time and be exploited by an attacker. It is essential to always have the latest versions of Windows or any operating system you use.

In short, if you are going to connect to a public WiFi you must take into account what we have explained. This is the only way to avoid attacks that could compromise your security and privacy. It is essential to protect wireless connections.

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