Protecting a Computer on a Public Wifi Network

Public wifi networks are popping up in airports, hotels, coffee shops, libraries, backpacker’s hostels and more. It seems like everyone wants to stay connected through free public wifi.

Public wifi security then becomes something the user needs to consider. There are risks that go along with public broadband Internet access. If you are smart, you’ll pay attention to the risks and take precautions.

It stands to reason that most public places with Internet access will have some sort of firewall in place and some antivirus programs as well, but there is no guarantee that they do. In addition, by the very nature of the access being public, it means that the door is open for unscrupulous users to find information you don’t want shared, like personal info and usernames and passwords. So what is a world traveller to do?

One of the easiest things to do is to log off from every site you visit that needs you to enter a username or password. It’s easy to forget to do it but if you don’t, the next person to use that computer can go to the browser history and see where you were last and open the site. It is very possible you ‘left the door open’ and who knows what they will have access to.
Only use sites that are secure. You can tell this by looking in the URL address bar. If it says https instead of http, then it is secure. If what you are doing isn’t critical, then waiting you get home might be the better option.
Adjust your security settings. Do this via your Control Panel. Change your ‘Sharing Options’. One thing to do is to turn off your ‘Network Discovery’. This means others can’t find you when looking for available wireless networks. Turn off ‘Public folder sharing’.

You can adjust these settings every time you visit a different wifi hotspot. Or, you can make it easier on yourself if you travel a lot. Make your most secure settings as your default settings. Then have a different group of settings for your home computer network and simply change to these when you are home. It might save you a bit of time and effort.

Make sure you have a very good antivirus program and have it scan regularly.
Make sure your firewall is enabled. You can set to the highest/most secure settings but you then have the ability to add your favourite sites to the ‘trusted sites’ list and then the firewall will allow you to have access to these sites.
Turn off your Internet connection when you aren’t using it. Simple, but how often do you think of that? If you use a Windows OS, just right click on the icon for your wireless network connection on your task bar and disconnect. You can reconnect when you need to access it again.

There are software programs that can automate your network settings for you if you travel a great deal and there are free programs that will act as a buffer between you and the sites, preventing access to your information. Some of these are free.

Please install free programs with caution. Read the terms of use. You may find that although they will do what they claim, by using their program, you might be giving them permission to advertise on your websites and more.

You will find a lot of good freeware but everything comes with a price of some sort. Be sure you are happy with the terms of use before you install.

Practice the best security measures you can with any free public wifi hotspots.