{"id":1810,"date":"2019-10-24T08:00:19","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T08:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/investspectrum.com\/uma\/?p=1810"},"modified":"2019-10-24T14:27:46","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T14:27:46","slug":"navigating-the-wild-wi-fi-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investspectrum.com\/uma\/navigating-the-wild-wi-fi-west\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating the Wild Wi-Fi West"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Ahh\u2026\u2026. traveling through the countryside again.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m thrifty, and don\u2019t have unlimited cell service.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to use up all my cell phone data out here downloading movies for my kin.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s fine, free public wireless Wi-Fi networks are everywhere.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Everyone likes to get online for free.\u00a0 But what does \u201cfree\u201d often mean. There are a lot of security issues with public Wi-Fi.\u00a0 I like to think of them as the wild-wild west.\u00a0 This blog will go over the big dangerous amidst many public Wi-Fi spots and how to navigate them.<\/p>\n

\"\"Malicious Hotspots<\/strong><\/p>\n

Howdy partner, welcome to free Wi-Fi.\u00a0\u00a0 So, you\u2019re having dinner at the Texas Steakhouse.\u00a0 Is the free public Wi-Fi really offered by the diner, or supplied by the guy renting an apartment next door?\u00a0 Perhaps someone nearby setup a rogue network to entice people to connect and snoop on your web browsing.\u00a0 It\u2019s a good practice to ask an employee, or the front desk what the name of their Wi-Fi is before just jumping on the first network you find.\u00a0 A legitimate Wi-Fi network will be less dangerous then a malicious hotspot that is anonymously owned.\u00a0 You don\u2019t want to shoot yourself in the foot, so to speak\u2026<\/p>\n

Wi-Fi sniffing <\/strong><\/p>\n

Just because you found the restaurant\u2019s Wi-Fi network doesn\u2019t make it safe either.\u00a0 One of the tools that hackers are using on public networks is the Pineapple Wi-Fi device.\u00a0 Originally developed for penetration and security testing, they can be repurposed for Man-in-the-middle attacks.\u00a0 After determining what websites you access, the device can thoroughly mimic preferred networks. \u00a0All your information is then routed through the device. You may think you\u2019re sending information to a HTTPS website, but it\u2019s actually a spoofed website that the device created.\u00a0 What\u2019s worse is the Pineapple can save user session and cookie information and continue masquerading as your device, long after your gone.\u00a0 You may need to call the local Sheriff on this network.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How do you protect yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you connect be sure you select the Public network option when connecting to public Wi-Fi, keep your computer up to date, and leave your firewall enabled.\u00a0 These options will protect your computer or device from being breached.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
When you leave a public Wi-Fi, be sure to delete, or \u201cforget\u201d the network in your phone or laptop.\u00a0 This will keep your device from automatically reconnecting to a similar rogue network at another location.<\/p>\n

Cautious browsing<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, we have learned how to protect your device, but what about protecting your online browsing transactions.\u00a0 Limiting your internet searches to informational websites that don\u2019t pass sensitive credentials is the best practice.\u00a0 Logging into your online bank, even though an installed App should be avoided.\u00a0 What about credit card purchases?\u00a0 Just say no! <\/em>\u00a0Ok, I just want to send an email.\u00a0 Unless your email is encrypted (most isn\u2019t) even email shouldn\u2019t be checked on public Wi-Fi.\u00a0 Do your email servers authenticate exclusively with secure HTTPS?\u00a0 If you\u2019re not 100% sure, don\u2019t chance it.\u00a0 So, what about Netflix, you like watching movies don\u2019t you?\u00a0 It depends\u2026. \u00a0\u00a0If you can set your online accounts up with different passwords, in the event you are hacked they will only get onto that one site.\u00a0 Not too much at risk with a compromised Netflix account if your passwords are all unique.\u00a0 Plus, I get an email when another device logs on my account, so you know you can cut them off at the pass!<\/p>\n

VPN \u2013 Circle the Wagons<\/strong><\/p>\n

What if you really need to get some work done, cellular service is not available and public Wi-Fi is your only option?\u00a0 Well that\u2019s when you need to invest in a VPN service.\u00a0 A virtual private network (VPN) is a technology that allows you to create a secure connection over a less-secure network between your computer and the internet. This is beneficial because it guarantees an appropriate level of security and privacy to the connected systems. This is extremely useful when your Wi-Fi infrastructure may not support it.\u00a0 It\u2019s like sitting inside a protective circled wagon.<\/p>\n

If your company can setup a VPN for you that would be the best option.\u00a0 The next best would be a paid VPN service that\u2019s based in the United States.\u00a0 Most of these run under $10 per month.\u00a0 Though there are many good ones outside of the States.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The following VPN Services have been highly rated by CNET for 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ExpressVPN
IPVanishVPN
Norton Secure VPN
Private Internet Access VPN<\/p>\n

So, chock up and stay away from those free VPN services.\u00a0 Because as we just learned from this blog, nothing in life is \u201cfree\u201d.\u00a0 Now head ’em up, and move ’em out<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ahh\u2026\u2026. traveling through the countryside again.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m thrifty, and don\u2019t have unlimited cell service.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to use up all my cell phone data out here downloading movies for my kin.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s fine, free public wireless Wi-Fi networks are everywhere.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Everyone likes to get online for free.\u00a0 But what does \u201cfree\u201d often mean. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[65,94],"class_list":["post-1810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-you-can-use","tag-online-safety","tag-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/investspectrum.com\/uma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/investspectrum.com\/uma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/investspectrum.com\/uma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investspectrum.com\/uma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investspectrum.com\/uma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1810"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/investspectrum.com\/uma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1831,"href":"https:\/\/investspectrum.com\/uma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions\/1831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/investspectrum.com\/uma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investspectrum.com\/uma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investspectrum.com\/uma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}