Here are the things you need to remember: Once you’re aware of the security risks that you face, you’ll know how to prevent them. The main way to prevent hackers breaking into your devices and intruding your internet connection via a public network is to educate yourself. While the hacker will be able to see that you are connected to the internet through public Wi-Fi, they won’t be able to see the details of the traffic transmitted, and that is why we strongly recommend using a VPN for Wi-Fi. The encryption process effectively shields all your data from prying eyes.

With the use of basic and legal software, a hacker can monitor and log all data packets passing through a Wi-Fi network.Įnhancing public Wi-Fi with a secure VPN connection will render the majority of these attacks useless. It is more of a passive act rather than an active assault like MITM. This discreetly allows them to monitor your activity and even control your traffic, potentially redirecting you to a site they created that will fool you into entering your credentials or banking details. The cybercriminal places their device between the connection with your device and the public Wi-Fi hotspot. It can reduce your bandwidth, damage your system, and provide hackers with a backdoor to all your personal files.

An insecure connection may result in difficult-to-detect malware slipping into your computer. You’d probably connect to a public Wi-Fi called “Starbucks_Wifi_Free” in a heartbeat, without knowing that a hacker might be running it. Cybercriminals will create fake Wi-Fi networks to fool you into connecting.

It’s easy to rename routers to literally anything. Here are some of the things hackers can do to take advantage of public Wi-Fi:

Here are the main examples of the valuable data that could get exposed using free Wi-Fi: When hackers take advantage of a free public Wi-Fi, they are after your personal information - any and all of it.

Wifi sniffing