Whether you are grocery shopping, working at a shop or waiting for a flight in an airport, public wifi is a suitable way to hop online. Unfortunately, it is a risky one. Wifi networks can leave you vulnerable to third-party hackers and trackers trying to steal your personal information. Hackers take benefits of the lax security and easy access that often accompanies public wifi.
If you need to connect to public wifi, you should take precautions to maintain the privacy and security of your information. A VPN is one of the security measures for public wifi usage. But many users still doubt, it is safe to use public wifi with a virtual private network?
While virtual private networks are generally considered an important security tool for remote work and other public network usages, some drawbacks can still leave your work and personal information vulnerable to hackers. So, whether it is an airport, coffee shop, mall, or restaurant, your connection is protected with a virtual private network for wifi. In this blog, TechNinjaPro will discuss a detailed guide to using wireless public networks securely.
- Why Is Public Wi-Fi Insecure?
- Best VPN for Public Wifi
- Does a VPN guard you on a public Wi-Fi Network?
- How does a VPN protect you on Wi-Fi Network?
- Can a public Wifi provider see your internet browsing history?
- How to prevent a public Wi-Fi hacker
- How to Select the Best VPN for Public Wifi
- Major Threats on Any Wifi Network
- How does PureVPN Protect Your Wifi Network?
- How To Secure Your WiFi Connection
- PureVPN WiFi Features
- FAQs
- Conclusion
Why Is Public Wi-Fi Insecure?
Even if the public internet connection you connect to may use encrypted protocols, nearby cafes, airports, restaurants, and other public places do not necessarily have the most protected wifi configurations, which protect you against malicious entities online. Public wifi hotspots are littered with cybercriminals, hackers, and other malicious actors who are continuously finding efficient ways to access your data.
Since most wifi networks do not employ passwords, this leaves an open door for infiltrators to come and grab control of your internet activities or gather important data, like your personally-identifying data. It is relatively simple for snoopers to spy on your internet activities and install spyware software, which provides them unfettered access to everything about you. What does this mean for you? You are prone to becoming a victim of identity theft, which can be very expensive.
Best VPN for Public Wifi
PureVPN is definitely one of the best virtual private networks for public wifi network. However, several other VPN services are also capable enough to handle public wifi networks. Some of the best VPN services for public wifi networks are:
PureVPN
Protect Your Data on Public WiFi with World-Class Security Features
Does a VPN guard you on a public Wi-Fi Network?
A VPN is one of the strong and safest methods you can use to protect your devices. It is practically made for use with public wifi. A VPN sends your internet traffic through an encrypted tunnel, making it a bit hard to decipher or stop. Having a VPN app on the devices you use to connect to a public wifi network will offer you this encryption on the go. TechNinjaPro always recommends using a virtual private network on free public wifi hotspots.
How does a VPN protect you on Wi-Fi Network?
Public wifi networks provide cyberattackers a perfect opportunity to target new victims. Public internet connections are poorly protected and easily accessed by hackers. As soon as a user unthinkingly connects to the wifi network, their private information can be exposed. Alternatively, threat actors can set up their own router and provide it with an innocuous name like ” Free train wifi.”
When you use a VPN, your internet traffic gets encrypted so that no one can intercept it via public wifi. A virtual private network protects your internet connection everywhere, so you no longer have to care about external protection. Cyberattackers would not be able to penetrate the wall of encryption, and you will stay protected.
Can a public Wifi provider see your internet browsing history?
Yes, a public wifi provider can see your internet browsing activities. It is not a given because it depends on the router they are using. But modern wifi routers keep logs such as what domain a user visited and for how long. And if you browse in a webpage without proper TLS/SSL encryption, they would also log the exact pages you read and the data your entered.
On mobile devices, it gets even more difficult. The wifi provider can see who you called or texted online, which applications you used, and for how long.
How to prevent a public Wi-Fi hacker
Educating yourself is the primary way to stop hackers from breaking into your devices and intruding your connection via a public wifi network. Once you are aware of the risks that face you, you will also be advanced with stopping them. Here are a few things you have to remember:
- Disable automatic internet connections. If you regularly take benefits of every public wifi node you can find, you may inadvertently latch on to a network you were not planning to.
- Do not carelessly connect to any public wifi. If you are using the public wifi of a popular restaurant, ask the staff for the exact name you need to search for.
- Do not log into any private accounts. When tethered to public wifi, do not use the internet connection to access any accounts that hold data of a sensitive nature. If any cyberattacker is sniffing around that public wifi network, your details may have just been picked up.
- Turn off file-sharing and check your firewall. Easy check that often gets missed. While file-sharing is useful in your own network at home, having it turned into a public network is a formula for the bad news. Make sure your security software is also active.
- Get a virtual private network because your information is valuable and needs to be secured. With virtual private network security, you will be able to enjoy the ease of public wifi networks without the risks.
How to Select the Best VPN for Public Wifi
With so many virtual private networks out there, it isn’t easy to make the correct selection. Here are a few aspects to pay consideration when selecting a virtual private network:
Robust encryption. Make sure your virtual private network uses the most advanced encryption standard and guarantees proper protection and protect an internet connection.
Tons of security and privacy features also help a lot, especially if you operate in more high-risk areas. So make sure your virtual private network provides such services as obfuscated servers, concealing that you use a VPN or a kill switch that disconnects your internet if you lose a virtual private network connection.
Excellent customer service support in case you encounter an issue.
Also, avoid obscure free VPN services as they usually do not provide a reliable service. They most likely monetize their internet activities by collecting your information, passing it to third parties, so in the end, they do more horrific than good. Furthermore, they also can have quite limited functionality and experience information breaches.
Ability to protect several devices. In this situation, you will safeguard your devices with a single account and even your other household members. Make sure you use a virtual private network on your device as we carry these devices with us, exposing them to numerous unsafe Wi-Fi spots.
Major Threats on Any Wifi Network
Hackers can use various notorious techniques to compromise a wifi network and listen in on your personal conversation or monitor your internet activity:
Wifi Pineapple: A wifi pineapple is a device that can be used to execute difficult network attacks. It scans all the service set identifiers being broadcasted by nearby devices and then rebroadcasts the SSIS pool to trick devices into thinking it is a wifi access point they connected to in the past. For example, the Starbucks wifi network may look like Starbucks owns it, but it could be that creepy guy on the street corner. It can be a bit hard to protect your device against these kinds of attacks unless you are using a virtual private network for wifi.
Man-In-The-Middle-Attack: MITM is one of the significant risks of using public networks. It involves malicious actors secretly positioning themselves, often using a wifi pineapple, in the communication between two parties. Cybercriminals and other threat actors are anxiously waiting for you to connect to an unsecured wifi network to execute such attacks. Once they can control the internet connection, the perpetrators can intercept your private information and use the findings to their benefit, engaging in illicit activities such as identity theft and financial fraud.
Evil Twin Attacks: When you connect your mobilephone or laptop to unprotected wifi at a restaurant or coffee shop, make sure to know the correct name of the attack. After all, you would need to steer clear of rogue wifi hotspots set up by cybercriminals. These public wifi networks are designed to mimic legitimate hotspots offered by nearby businesses, and once someone connects to them, the bad guys can steal private information and even redirect them to an infected site.
Cookie “Side Jacking”: Some website cookies are not dangerous at all and simply enable sites to perform certain functions like remembering your login credentials or personalizing the content displayed to you, among other things. However, hackers can steal your cookies, especially when you are browsing on an unprotected wifi network.
Computer Worms: Viruses and worms are similar in numerous ways, but they differ in one significant aspect. For viruses to spread on your devices, they first need to be attached to a program. On the other hand, worms can do so without the user downloading infected files. If the wifi network you are connected to has poor security, you are putting yourself in danger of a worm infection that could compromise your data or render your device completely useless.
How does PureVPN Protect Your Wifi Network?
Upon connecting to PureVPN, all your information is sent through an encrypted tunnel, making it nearly impossible to decipher or intercept. Moreover, your IP is replaced with one from PureVPN’s servers, allowing you to browse the internet with a cloak of anonymity on any wifi network.
How To Secure Your WiFi Connection
- Sign up and download the PureVPN to your preferred device.
- Open the PureVPN app and hit Connect to establish an encrypted VPN connection.
- Browse the internet with confidence.
PureVPN WiFi Features
If you need to improve internet security online, you need a virtual private network. If you do not encrypt your data before it leaves your device, it can be hacked. In addition, to improve your internet browsing, PureVPN is useful for many other things, such as:
Secure WiFi
All internet users can connect to any wifi network with complete confidence and peace of mind.
Split Tunneling
Get the freedom to distribute your online traffic as you please between PureVPN and your internet service provider.
VPN Hotspot
Transform your device into a hotspot to protect all connected devices.
Router Configuration
PureVPN is compatible with a broad range of routers to protect your home or office network.
Internet Kill Switch
Users can use PureVPN’s fail-safe IKS feature to ensure their actual online identity remains a secret even if they lose connection to the virtual private network.
Leak Protection
Use PureVPN to remain protected against IPv6 and DNS leaks at all times.
Anonymous Browsing
Mask your real IP with PureVPN and enjoy anonymous internet browsing.
FAQs
No, in most countries, using a virtual private network is entirely legal and even recommended if you are working with essential or private information. Many big enterprises use VPN services to offer an encrypted connection for employees working remotely. The query still comes up often, though. The reason is that many hackers and other threat actors used VPN services, and so using a VPN gained a connection with illegal activity. Today, virtual private networks are used for precisely the same reason that cyberattackers used them in the past. It is important to check if your country allows you to use your virtual private network if you are traveling.
A virtual private network protects information in transit between your device and the remote server, but you can get hacked despite its use. PureVPN employs 256-bit military-grade encryption on all of its connections, which is used by banks, governments and law enforcement departments worldwide. This means that nobody will get their hands on your private credentials.
While your connection, then, is relatively bulletproof, cyberattacks are still capable of getting into your PC or mobile device: all they would need to do is trick you into installing malicious software. This is why TechNinjaPro recommends using strong antivirus software in conjunction with PureVPN.
Since a virtual private network conceals your real IP address with one from its servers, you can stop third parties like your internet service provider and the government from spying on you. They would not be able to tell your actual identity, what you are up to online and where your internet traffic is originating from.
Yes, unprotected public wifi networks such as those found in restaurants, hotels, or airports provide cybercriminals the perfect environment to steal information such as banking details and other personal information that should never fall into anyone’s hands. This is why using a VPN is crucial in such circumstances.
Using a public wifi hotspot without a virtual private network can be very risky. It makes you vulnerable to cyberattackers and phishing attacks. You could use an excellent free virtual private network to safeguard yourself, but they often come with many restrictions like slow speeds, data caps, and small network servers.
A safe way to stay safe on public Wi-Fi is to use PureVPN, which comes with a free trial and a money-back guarantee. It also offers top-notch security features to protect you on public wifi without restrictions.