The next time a friend tells you triumphantly to connect to the internet for free thanks to the wifi connection left free and without password by the neighbor, you could point out to him how dangerous this can be for his privacy. That neighbor in fact owns the router that transmits the signal for the connection and can, if he wants, know everything that is done online by those who use it, including sites visited by other computers.
If this neighbor is also a bit good, he could even spy on conversations and sniff the passwords of those connected to his router and, even more, enter his PC.
When you find an unsecured and public wireless connection, it feels like when you find 10 euros on the ground and, taken from the euphoria, you connect immediately without thinking about the risks.
It should be noted, however, that when you connect to the internet via a public network or an unprotected private network, left free without a password, you enter an extraneous environment that can be controlled by others
Basically, if you connect to your computer to an unsecured network, you enter an open environment and expose yourself to the risk that the data will be visible to other people : in particular passwords, emails, login data and other information private.
Even Windows 7, when the PC finds an unsecured wireless network, indicates it with a warning symbol and, before pressing the connect button, it warns about the possibility that the data exchanged on the internet can be seen by strangers.
So let's see the methods that can be used to strengthen security even when browsing the web using an unsecured public hotspot or an unsecured wireless network .
READ ALSO: How your data, passwords and identity are stolen on the public wifi network
The problem of unsecured wireless networks and public hotspots is easy to understand if you think about how the radio works: unless there is a particular configuration, a radio transmits in all directions and not only towards a particular one.
As a result, anyone close enough can collect the sent data and, if the data is not protected, can read it.
Even if reading the data transmitted in a wifi network (and therefore reading passwords and unencrypted information) requires a certain amount of computer knowledge and scanner programs, as seen in another article, Joining a wifi network and snorting network packets is easy and affordable for everyone, under certain conditions.
When surfing the internet with a public or unsecured wifi network, one must therefore be cautious and behave as if someone was behind and capable of sniffing anything I write. Fortunately, the banks' websites, the Email sites such as Gmail, Google, the Post Office and, optionally, the social networks Facebook and Twitter, use the HTTPS connection protocol .
Those who try to spy and read data on a network will not be able to receive understandable information if they are exchanged with an encrypted https connection.
For example, when typing the password and sending it through a network, it is not enough that it is covered by dots but it must not be sent as "plain text". Instead, it should be encrypted via HTTPS or SSL.
To learn more, you can read the article on how to navigate in https on all the sites that allow it .
Many sites automatically switch to the HTTPS connection when you visit a page that requires the exchange of sensitive information (such as passwords or whenever you write credit card numbers for example). Some sites, such as Google, Twitter and Facebook give you the opportunity to stay in HTTPS at all times. When using a public network, whenever you have to enter sensitive data, you must check that the address of the website visited, the URL, starts with https (in front of the www). Although HTTPS is effective protection, you leave the security in the hands of the website and cannot manage it (even if modern browsers warn of expired or unverified security certificates). A poorly designed HTTPS site could have huge security holes and it is never taken for granted that a site has great security just because it is famous. If you browse through a public network and the site is not protected, it is best to wait until you return home before entering important information.
I want to clarify that these things are valid with any device used to surf the internet: not only the computer but also the mobile phone, smartphone, tablet, iPad etc.
When surfing from a public wifi it is also important to protect your computer from external intrusion and take at least two other security measures on the computer. by disabling any sharing.
1) First of all, disable sharing of files and folders on the network .
In Windows, from the Control Panel, go to the network and share connection center and click the edit link for advanced sharing settings . Under the Guest or Public section, disable each option. In this way, when the PC connects to private and protected networks it will continue to share resources, folders or printers otherwise all the ports will be closed.
2) Enable the Firewall and check that it is active and functional.
Still from the Windows Control Panel, open the network and sharing center again and click on the bottom left on Windows Firewall .
In Windows 10, the firewall options are located in Settings> Update and Security> Windows Security .
3) Disable the automatic proxy configuration option to avoid possible connection hijacking.
To do this in Windows 10, go to Settings> Network and Internet> Proxy and disable the " Automatically detect settings " option.
In Windows 7, open Internet Options from the Control Panel, go to the Connections tab> LAN Settings and disable the " Automatically detect settings " option.
To connect in a truly secure way when using an open and free Wifi you could use a VPN that makes any connection 100% secure.
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and is a method of creating a secure connection, even on a network that is public and unsecured.
Instead of connecting directly to the Internet, you connect to a specific server which in turn is connected to the Internet.
The connection between the device (PC or mobile phone) and the server is encrypted, so the information is protected even on unsecured Wi-Fi.
There are several ways to set up a VPN, but the easiest is to use one of the best free VPN services reported on another blog page.
Much more conveniently, just install and activate one of these extensions with VPN for Chrome browser .
Another common method of creating a secure connection, even when using public or unsecured WiFi is to use SSH tunneling .
With tunneling, a packet is sent via a specific network protocol within another packet, using a different network protocol.
In the case of SSH tunneling, all packets are put into SSH packets, which are encrypted. The packets are then sent to the designated SSH server.
You can create a tunnel both using a virtual server and with your own home computer (work for experts only; search on Google to find a guide).
In conclusion, as seen in another article (surfing safely when traveling), when connecting to public hotspots with free wifi networks and free internet it is important to know that information can be visible to other people.
The best way to make sure your information remains private is to not send sensitive data and passwords over the network.
READ ALSO: Connect to the wifi of hotels, bars or public networks without problems of internet access
