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Also known as a "hot spot," free Wi-Fi, as the name suggests, gives you free access to the Internet within a certain area. Coffee shops are now famous for being hot spots, for example. Places with Wi-Fi have become really popular since we all became dangerously heavy Internet addicts, and we carry our laptops around the way we carry our purses or keys. Today it is pretty common to see someone sitting at a table in a restaurant, or on a bench in the park, surfing the Internet. The days are long gone when this seemed really amazing; kind of like the days we thought it was strange when we saw people talk on the phone in a car. We think this is pretty cool, this whole "going mobile." One minute you are walking around the city, the next minute you grab a seat at the nearest café, open your laptop and voilà : the whole World Wide Web is at your fingertips. You can pay your bills and order a latte all at the same time. In fact, there is only one thing we think that is totally not cool about this – those who would steal your personal information and peak into your private life. Call it a virtual peeping tom if you will, but the legal system calls it theft! Theft can occur in a couple of ways, so which one in particular are we talking about? We are talking about the theft some people ignore (or are unaware of) because let's face it, using your laptop anywhere, anytime is so doggone convenient. And most of us still believe the fallacy that nothing bad will ever happen to us. You can be hacked regardless of how you connect to the Internet, so here are some things to think about when that double espresso mocha mint hazelnut coffee beckons; or if you are at home "borrowing" the Internet from your neighbors. This leads us to a side note: Geeks On Site certainly does not approve of connecting to a wireless network that you have "borrowed" because you are actually "stealing" the Internet from somebody else (who is paying the bill too, mind you). While "borrowing "is not dangerous per se, it might be useful to remember that if you can connect to a wireless network, other people can too. And while you may not have bad intentions, you never know about the other basically anonymous folks that are hopping on that connection with you. First, let's look at some ways you might be able to deduce that another person or persons are on the same connection. Your computer takes forever to load. Is this symptom familiar? This doesn't mean that every time your computer is slow, somebody got onto your connection, and if you are in a free Wi-Fi space, you simply don't have control over who you share the connection with. If it is your personal line at home though, be mindful of a slow connection which could be a sign somebody is using your connection at the same time which makes the Internet connection get weaker. In this case, remember to lock/block your Internet connection. So, what is the real danger of somebody connecting to your line, or sharing a line with you in a free Wi-Fi area? For starters, imagine somebody accessing your banking or credit card information, all the while pretending to be you, as they get numerous lines of credit or loans and rack up huge bills. You may knowingly open up your computer and offer a hacker a fantastic opportunity to use your name, credit and money to enjoy themselves. Understand too, it will be up to you to defend yourself if someone steals your identity. And some companies, to protect themselves, have very little sympathy for people who claim their identity has been stolen - those businesses just want the outstanding bill to be paid. Where and how does this happen? Recently people have reported cases of system intrusions while in an airport. Airports are the most convenient places for hackers because so many people travel with their laptops, and while waiting between their flights, they are working or just surfing to pass the time. Those ‘hot spots' can be called "Free Wi-Fi," but they could actually be fake networks or a peer-to-peer connection (you are surfing through the hacker's computer). And while a person is surfing the Internet, the hackers are doing the job of surfing the victim's computer, stealing information such as passwords, social security numbers, credit card and bank account numbers, and so on. Identity theft is a scary thing but the main thing is to not panic, because there are things you can do to make your laptop more secure. First of all, you should try to connect securely. Meaning you should never connect to an unfamiliar Wi-Fi, even if the network's name sounds harmless (like "Airport- Free Wi-Fi" or something very simple like that) because a hacker can change his network's name to whatever he wants, thereby creating a legitimate sounding name, or even using the name offered by the airport itself. Also, our guard may be down a bit because we are tired or preoccupied due to traveling. Disable automatic connections, meaning that you should check if your computer is going to connect automatically to any wireless network within your range. You should disable this function in order to have full control over your computer and connections to the Internet. Turn off file sharing – we don't have to add anything to this one! Create a virtual private network (VPN) through which you establish a private network across the public network, and prevent hackers from intercepting your data. We hope you found this article helpful, and that if you never thought of your Wi-Fi safety before, you will start thinking of it now in order to protect yourself and your information from the vultures waiting to pick up any information they could use in their favor. So watch out for ‘free' Wi-Fi networks and protect your computers as much as you can!
