Secure Hotspots 

Nowadays, security has become a huge issue whether it be physical or technological. We’ve always had security for our homes, our cars or any of our valuable possessions. But now, we have security for our computers, our tablets and our smartphones.

Just as with low physical security in a house, any laptop can be accessed easily through something as simple as an unsecure wireless hotspot at the café you browse your emails or view websites every morning.

The technology we own can now hold information just as valuable as that within your home. How careful you are and how much security you need is dependent on the information your device is holding and the threat posed if one were to access it. In essence, the higher the risk, the higher your security should be.

Public Hotspots

With most public hotspots both the user and the provider want the most uncomplicated method of access to the network. Because users would generally be using the hotspot to access Facebook or news apps like The Journal, there is very low risk here.

If users are not as likely to be accessing their online banking or sending highly personal emails while on this network then the security does not need to be high. It is also evident that those who are using these hotspots are generally just passing through and may not be returning in the near future, reducing the security risk even more.

As the café’s, hotels and restaurants who are providing the wireless hotspots are not responsible for what you are searching while using their networks, it is up to the user to find their own means of security.

Reducing Security Threats

As previously stated, depending on the value of the information that you access, the higher the risk is. Therefore, people who deal in businesses which involve highly sensitive information, such as business owners or doctors, should use better security measures. It is also important to note that if you often use the same network you should take more care than if you are just passing through.

To increase your security, you should ensure that your PC’s security patches are kept up-to-date, and have both a firewall and good malware protection in place. In addition turning off your Bluetooth and WiFi when not in use and disabling file sharing options.

As you have probably seen when in an area with open WiFi networks, your phones and laptops sometimes connect to them automatically. These networks could be dangerous such as “evil twin” networks. These networks have the same name as other legitimate networks in an effort to obtain information such as passwords from users.

Another manner of security is ensuring that there is nothing valuable to be accessed. Keeping photos, documents and other information on the cloud is a great way of protecting yourself from such attacks. If you are using gmail to send important information there are apps such as Snapmail available that allow the recipient a pre-determined (by the sender) amount of time to either read or download the information you have sent them – perhaps something to consider when sending bank details or similar information. Other email security options available such as Extension Secure Mail for Gmail (by Streak) are chrome extensions that encrypt the email your are sending

If you back up your information physically like on a hard-drive or on the cloud you can use your PC safely without fear of this information being accessed.

Secure Hotspots

Some wireless networks have no security measures whatsoever and so are obviously the most dangerous. However, they can be mad they more secure by using a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Most networks now need a password to log on and thus are more secure. The WiFi Alliance  has developed a wireless encryption protocol called Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) which all networks are advised to use.

Public hotspots can be quite secure also, as they now generally require a web login. However, they are still somewhat unsecured as the first connection to that web login is not secured by their web security.

Virtual Private Network

Virtual private networks are basically an imitation of the real physical private networks that existed years ago in the computing world. VPN’s therefore ensure that your network and the connection between your devices and those who provide the VPN are secure and nobody else can access them.

There are a number of trusted VPN’s which you can use such as ExpressVPN and Nord VPN. All this information can be found easily online. There are also other VPN’s which are even more secure such as TunnelBear, Tor and OpenVPN, which cover more than just web-browsing connections.

There are a number of different sites which weigh up the pros and cons of each VPN, so it may not be such an easy choice. However, there are numerous articles and forums which give enough information so as you can have an informed opinion in this choice.

There’s obviously a lot more to it than has been covered here. But hopefully this gives you enough information on keeping your online banking as secure as the laptop that accesses it.

Finding a wi-fi hotspot

There are many applications and websites to choose from however one of the best is called WifiMapper, It is a free app and it very reliable. It claims to have have mapped over 500 million wi-fi hotspots worldwide.  It also has historical information about the quality of the signal at each hotspot, so you can only pick not just a free hotspot, but also choose the one with the best quality.

As web designers based in Dublin, we are very careful when designing websites and give much consideration to securing the users confidential information in addition to adding security features, you the user, also need to be careful as to what way you access the website.