Security At Public Wi-Fi Hot Spots

You're at an airport waiting for a connecting flight with an hour to kill before it arrives. You see a public Wi-Fi hot spot and decide to fire up your laptop. Why not? It's a free connection to the Internet. Right?

Wait! Public Wi-Fi hot spots are an invitation to "come hack me"! Public Wi-Fi hot spots are becoming more and more commonplace in airports, hotels, restaurants, and even public libraries. However, while public Wi-Fi hot spots are convenient, they are also unencrypted, unsecured networks waiting for hackers to come join the party. If you haven't taken steps to secure your laptop from intruders, your User ID's, passwords, and bank account numbers you transmit through that unsecured network -- and any other data on your hard drive -- could be at risk when you connect to those public networks. Read Preston Gralla's article, "How to protect yourself at wireless hot spots," to learn what steps to take to put up the barricades that hackers can't peek through.