{"id":61,"date":"2016-07-25T17:15:07","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T17:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rm73v2idht.onrocket.site\/?p=61"},"modified":"2022-11-22T18:49:51","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T18:49:51","slug":"should-you-use-free-wifi-the-answer-is-resoundingly-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.integrityfirstins.biz\/?p=61","title":{"rendered":"Should you use free Wifi…the answer is resoundingly \u201cNo!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"High<\/a><\/p>\n

It all starts out innocently enough. \u00a0You decide to stop into your favorite coffee place. \u00a0You order a drink, sit down, and pull out your laptop or other mobile device. \u00a0You don\u2019t want to use your precious data from your wireless plan, so you think \u201cNo worries, they offer free wifi here.\u201d \u00a0You connect to the free wifi and start browsing. \u00a0You check your email, your bank account and then online shop while you finish your drink. \u00a0A perfectly innocuous afternoon…or so you thought. \u00a0Little did you know that the person sitting across from you, seemingly having a day similar to yours, was capturing all of your online movements and information. \u00a0They<\/i> were then able to check your email, access your bank account and shop online using your PayPal and Amazon accounts.<\/p>\n

They were able to gather all of your information using a fairly simple program called a packet sniffer (or packet analyzer). \u00a0These programs are easy to install and use, but best of all, some of them are free, or so a hacker would say. \u00a0Because it is so simple, this exploit is used all of the time with free wifi.<\/p>\n

When you go online using a wireless connection, you communicate via packets with the router. \u00a0Packets contain all of the information for the web page that you are using, including any text that you may type, such as your credit card information or passwords. \u00a0One web page can consist of multiple packets. \u00a0A packet sniffer can connect to the same wireless network and collect copies of these packets. \u00a0It then will put the packets together like you would piece together a puzzle. \u00a0Once the sniffer has put the pieces back together, the person implementing the sniffer has the information of everyone on the network for the entire time that they were there.<\/p>\n

The reason that packet sniffers work with free wifi is because there is no encryption algorithm in place. \u00a0If the wireless router employs an encryption technique, the packets become encrypted, and thus, unreadable to the sniffer. \u00a0They can still collect your packets, but they can\u2019t do anything with them. \u00a0It would be like someone having a puzzle where none of the pieces fit together. \u00a0With encryption, the router knows how to decrypt your packets, but no one else can.<\/p>\n

If you are required to enter a password for the wireless network, that normally means that it is encrypted. \u00a0However, if the password is known to everyone, then the packet sniffer knows as well, and you are back where you started. \u00a0Therefore, you want to connect to a network that has a protected key.<\/p>\n

Before connecting to a network, look to see the encryption type. \u00a0You want to make sure that it is WPA2. \u00a0Two types of networks that you want to stay away from are WPA and WEP. \u00a0These are easily hacked and thus, should never be used. \u00a0If you are on a WIndows machine, to see the encryption type, click on the wireless indicator and select your network. \u00a0The encryption type will be displayed under \u201cSecurity Type\u201d.<\/p>\n

But wait, I still want to be able to use free wifi…is that even possible?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is possible to save your data plan and still make use of the free wifi when you employ a virtual private network, or a VPN. \u00a0When you use a VPN, it encrypts the packets for you only, thus making your packet puzzle impossible for a packet sniffer to solve. \u00a0Using a VPN is easy, as you just sign up for a VPN account with one of the many VPN providers. \u00a0The cost is normally less than $50 per year.<\/p>\n

You can use your VPN account with all of your devices. \u00a0Generally, tablets come with the functionality for a VPN connection built into the settings. \u00a0You will need to consult the VPN service that you signed up with for specifics. \u00a0If you want to use the VPN on a laptop or desktop, you will generally need to download an executable program from the VPN service and install it. \u00a0Then, every time you want to connect to a free wifi network, you will launch the VPN program first, sign in, and then feel free to safely browse the internet in obscurity.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to sign up for a VPN and I don\u2019t mind using my data.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t mind using your data in your phone plan, then connecting to your phone or tablet\u2019s personal hotspot is the most secure option. \u00a0Simply turn on your hotspot and connect your device. \u00a0You may be using your data plan, but you can do so knowing that your data is safe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It all starts out innocently enough. \u00a0You decide to stop into your favorite coffee place. \u00a0You order a drink, sit down, and pull out your laptop or other mobile device. \u00a0You don\u2019t want to use your precious data from your … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,17,1],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-61","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyber-liability-insurance","category-risk-management","category-uncategorized","tag-free-wifi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.integrityfirstins.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.integrityfirstins.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.integrityfirstins.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.integrityfirstins.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.integrityfirstins.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.integrityfirstins.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64,"href":"https:\/\/blog.integrityfirstins.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions\/64"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.integrityfirstins.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.integrityfirstins.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.integrityfirstins.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.integrityfirstins.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}