When you’re travelling, free Wi-Fi can be like winning the lottery. All that time spent searching for a Wi-Fi network has finally paid off when you find one that’s open and free. But you shouldn’t get too comfortable, because you must still consider the security issues when accessing the internet through this free Wi-Fi.
Researchers in Belgium recently discovered that all Wi-Fi networks are vulnerable to hacking, and that includes even those with the strongest security. The researchers from the Belgian University KU Leuven discovered a weakness in the WPA2 security protocol that is used by almost all Wi-Fi networks. An attacker can easily hack the public Wi-Fi network and read information that was previously assumed to be safely encrypted, such as credit card numbers, passwords, chat messages, emails and photos.
Here’s the top 5 ways to stay safe when accessing public Wi-Fi on your UK or European vacation.
Number 5: Turn off your Wi-Fi when not in use
A good habit to get into is to turn off your computer Wi-Fi when it’s not in use. This even includes when you’ve closed the lid on your computer, because processes might still be running in the background, and hackers might still be able to access your computer.
Turning off Wi-Fi on a Mac computer is easy — click the Wi-Fi icon in the upper right corner of the menu bar and select “Turn Wi-Fi Off”.
Turning off Wi-Fi on a Windows Laptop is easy too — use the Wi-Fi icon located in the system tray – the section to the far right of the Taskbar. Click on the icon and here you can toggle the Wi-Fi to OFF.
Number 4: Keep your anti-virus and anti-malware software up to date
If you ever use public Wi-Fi it is absolutely essential to make sure that anti-virus and anti-malware is up to date. New viruses and malware get launched almost every day so make sure your software is set to update automatically, or go into its settings and manually update. Never ignore a request to update either — it can be easy to click off such a request.
Number 3: Use HTTPS whenever you can
When you go to a website and see the little padlock icon in your browser, this means the website is using HTTPS security. This means that all data transmitted from your computer to the website is encrypted. Even if someone has hacked into your Wi-Fi connection, all they’ll intercept is an encrypted set of data that will be meaningless to them.
Number 2: Use a VPN
One of the best ways to protect yourself on a public Wi-Fi network is to use a VPN connection. A VPN (which stands for a “Virtual Private Network”) is a service that allows you to connect to the internet via a server run by a VPN provider. All data traveling between your computer, phone or tablet, and this “VPN server” is securely encrypted.
There’s many free and paid VPN services available, and it’s a good idea to have an account with one so you can turn on your VPN when you’re on a public Wi-Fi network and doing sensitive things, such as online banking. For example, Best VPN recently published their list of the 5 best VPN services in 2017.
Number 1: Don’t use public Wi-Fi
Ok so it kind of sounds silly that we’d write a blog article about staying safe on public Wi-Fi and say that the best way to stay safe is to simply not use public Wi-Fi. But it’s true. This is the best way to stay safe.
Instead of connecting to public Wi-Fi, you should be connecting your laptop to your Smartphone (“tethering” or “hotspotting” your phone) or using a mobile hotspot device.
This means your internet is no longer free, but paying a little extra for data that you can securely use on your terms makes the best sense.
If you’re travelling to the UK or Europe and need to be able to hotspot your phone or use your own mobile hotspot device, you’ll need to get a local SIM Card that has data. Fortunately you can buy one before you even the leave the USA from My UK SIM Card — it will get shipped to your home or office, and works as soon as you land in the UK or Europe.
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