Free comes with caveats

President Duterte recently signed Republic Act 10929, or the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act into law, and since there’s going to be free WiFi hotspots cropping up everywhere in the next few months, it’s always a good idea to start practicing safe internet browsing habits when you use these public hotspots. Here are a few practical and easy tips to keep yourself secure when you’re connecting to free WiFi spots:

 

Verify the real free public WiFi connection

Admit it, we’ve all opened our WiFi networks settings before and connected to the first open, unsecured network that says “free WiFi” at one time or another. While that’s usually not a problem, there’s a good chance that hackers or identity thieves will setup “honeypots” – fake WiFi hotspots that are designed to catch your attention that will, in turn, allow them access to your device when you connect to them.

The best practice here is to confirm with the authorities what the name of their free WiFI hotspot is before connecting to them so you’re not spoofed.

 

Don’t do anything sensitive online when you’re connected to a free WiFI hotspot

Free WiFi hotspots are great when you need to open Facebook or quickly check a site online, but they should be avoided if you plan on opening and sending sensitive information, like opening your bank account or paying your bills. Always be paranoid AF when you’re using public networks, and always assume that someone is looking for an easy hookup to a free credit card.

 

Turn off file sharing on your notebooks

While file sharing is a great thing to have when you’re at home and have to quickly move files and folders across multiple PCs and network storage devices, it’s not so great when you’re out and about and connecting to strange networks. Always make sure that your file sharing services are off when you’re connected to a public hotspot so that you don’t give thieves free access to your PC (or Mac) and easy way in.

Get a VPN

Using a VPN is one of the easiest and most fool-proof ways of making sure that no one is snooping on what you’re doing when you’re connecting online. In a nutshell, VPNs allow you to securely send sensitive data across public networks with little fear of snooping. It’s the same tech that allows dissidents in totalitarian regimes to connect to the free and open world wide web, so it’s more than enough to keep you safe when you’re connecting to public networks. There’s a bunch of free ones that you can use like Psiphon, though the best VPNs are usually the ones that you pay for.

 

Photographs from Unsplash.com