By Perry Correll,
Principal Technologist, Xirrus
It’s no surprise to anyone that Wi-Fi use
continues to grow. However, what is hard to
believe is that there are so few public Wi-Fi
networks capable of serving our needs
outside of the home securely—particularly
when you consider that as of today, nearly
everyone owns a smart phone, 91% use a
laptop, and 80% have a tablet. The
portability of these items reflects intent of
use, which is, of course, mobility. But there
is little point in being able to work remotely
from a coffee shop, do banking from our
phones while waiting at the airport, or make
purchases from the comfort of a hotel
room when there’s a high risk of having
data stolen due to the lack of security when
using public Wi-Fi.
Xirrus recently polled Wi-Fi users and found
that 76% connect to Wi-Fi outside of their
home. With the proliferation of wearable
devices such as fit bands and smart
watches, that figure will only increase with
each passing year, thereby presenting
additional temptations for hackers. Public
Wi-Fi offers the convenience of
accessibility, but typically doesn’t encrypt
data, which leaves passwords exposed and
sensitive data vulnerable to the possibility
of capture by those with malicious
intentions.
It’s bad enough worrying that while sipping
a latte, cyber criminals might be trying to
steal your credit card data and bank
account numbers, but even more daunting
to know that corporate espionage is on the
rise. Hotel Wi-Fi networks, which are
notoriously easy to breach, offer hackers
little challenge when it comes to
intercepting private or classified
information accessed by executives who
stay in hotels on business.
Now more than ever, large and small
enterprises—from coffee houses to airports
and hotels—must upgrade their networks to
provide better security for their customers.
2.
Do not enter credit card details or other
personal information on the provider’s
network unless you are using an SSL or
VPN. Ideally, use vouchers or other
information when possible (such as
name/room number in a hotel setting).
When in doubt, call the provider’s
support number and validate the
method of connection.
3.
Public networks should have device-todevice communications turned off. If
you can see other users on the network
through, say, AirDrop, Finder or
Explorer, disconnect immediately. This
Wi-Fi network has a security hole.
4.
Check the public IP address of the
network (you can do this with
mxtoolbox.com) and verify the DNS
name to ensure it is in fact the
provider’s network.
5.
If you want to access sensitive
websites – banks, financial institutions,
corporate servers, etc. – make sure to
run your VPN software in full tunnel
mode. Check with your IT department
if you don’t know what this means.
6.
When it comes to open networks,
either never connect, or delete open
networks immediately after you’ve
used them. Hackers widely use open
networks to collect personal info, or
worse, to execute a distributed denial
of service (DDoS) attack against a
mobile device, with the aim of crashing
an app and/or possibly the OS. This
kind of attack can render the device
unusable.
7.
If ever in doubt, disconnect, and do not
reconnect to the network.
Stay secure on public Wi-Fi
We offer a few tips on how you can use
public Wi-Fi and maintain some level of
security:
1.
When connecting to public networks,
be careful to ensure the SSID name
and method of encryption are exactly
as advertised by the provider.
www.securityplusonline.co.uk/xirrus