How Can I Best Protect My Data And Login Credentials When I’m Connected To A (paid/free) Wifi Hotspot?
Posted on August 20, 2009 by admin
How safe is it to log into Yahoo! or Gmail or whatever, while connected to a WiFi hotspot on the road? Are there any free tools that encrypt everything I send to the web? Or how else can I protect my private data?
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Tags: data protection, Hotspot, Security
August 20, 2009
The previous 3 answers failed to recognize the most vulnerable security hole in Windows that is overlooked. Make sure the administrator account on your computer is password protected. All Windows XP computers come from the factory without a password. If you have file and print sharing enabled it’s not even worth mentioning how easy it is to connect to a computer with the administrator account wide open.
Here are my recommendations for safe and secure wireless surfing:
1. Make sure all user accounts (including administrator) are password protected.
2. Disable file and print sharing.
3. Make sure at least the Windows firewall is enabled.
4. If you must have File and Print sharing enabled, use NTFS permissions intead of simple file sharing.
Good luck and happy surfing!
August 20, 2009
simply don’t share any folder in your computer and for further protection use a firewall and configure the wifi connection to be internet and disable file sharing… enjoy..
August 20, 2009
Clear all of your saved passwords, cache, cookies, etc. From now on, especially if you are using internet explorer, do not allow the web browser to save your password and manually type in your user name and password whenever you log into the site. I also recommend that if you are using Internet Explorer or Safari browser or something like that, you should switch to a more secure browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Opera. Last but not least ensure that you have a good firewall installed on your computer. A free one I have been satisfied with for quite a while now is called Filseclab Personal Firewall.
August 20, 2009
Everyone has made good points Also, do not forget to disable ad-hoc connections on your wireless so that no one can connect directly to your wireless without going thru the hotspot.
August 20, 2009
Make sure you’re using SSL over HTTP. They way you check is that the URL in the address bar of your browser will read “https://…” instead of the usual “http://…” If you do this, even though people can eavesdrop on your connection, they’ll just get garbage instead of actual information.
Also, remember to run a firewall, even if it’s just Microsoft’s built-in firewall. That will help out.