The Problem with Free Wi-Fi

At this time of year, kids get out of school for a week or so, and some of us go on trips. While this is great, it is, unfortunately, an opportunity for people to commit cyber crimes. Luckily, most of the issues you will experience as a traveller are easily remedied with a bit of awareness and knowing the rules of the road.

Here’s the problem – Free things are (usually) great. One of the first lessons, when I went to University (During frosh week, mind you), was “Free (ahem….things) are good things.” Free samples at stores? super cool, especially when you’re at a chocolate store. In principle, free Wi-Fi is a good thing. It’s a store, Hotel, restaurant or whatnot, providing a service so that you, as the customer, don’t have to use your data that you pay for while you’re in their place of business. That is the theory. Here’s the problem: some people will take advantage of these businesses’ good nature and try to steal your data.

Here’s the Scenario – You are sitting at a coffee shop that offers free Wi-Fi. They have a sign that says something like “We have free Wi-Fi, please help yourself” or something like that. If you want to use the free wifiWi-Fi, go to your phone or computer and pull up the list of wifiWi-Fi networks. The top two that show up are two free networks, one which says “CoffeeShopFreeWifi” and the other is “CoffeeShopFreeWifi01”. I don’t know about you, but they look darn similar, and I know at home I have two different ways to get online on my own network: “Myhousewifi” and “myhousewifi1”. So, to a degree, it makes sense That the coffee shop would have the same thing. The problem is that “CoffeeShopFreeWifi01” is NOT the coffee shop, but in fact, is a Threat actor putting out thier own network that if you were to join, they would be able to monitor and steal any data you access while on thier network.

The Fix for this? – For the love of Pete, DON’T USE FREE WIFI!!!! That’s a simplistic answer; allow me to elaborate. When you’re in a place where you will likely not be for longer than an hour or two, exposing your data to supposed free Wi-Fi is not a great idea. In the coffee shop example, even if you are connecting to the correct network, there are still several ways that a Threat actor could infiltrate your system, so it’s easier not to use it at all. Personally, what I do is connect my computer to my phone’s Wi-Fi. This is called “Hot-spotting,” and it provides you with secure Wi-Fi that you can only access. Others may be able to see your hotspot network, but without the password that only you will have, they won’t be able to join.

For those of you going on Vacation, when you get to your Hotel, speak to the staff about what network is being used at the Hotel. They will likely have something in the room that will tell you exactly which network is theirs and what the password is. Some networks are more secure than others, but you will be fine if you follow the Hotel’s instructions. One of the craziest hotels I once stayed at required the user to pay a small fee each day, and only once the fee was paid was the password (which was changed daily) divulged. Before you ask, yes, I spoke to the Hotel about this, and they confirmed that that was how they did it.

Travelling can be a wild experience; the last thing you must worry about is what happens once you GET to your vacation spot. For those of you travelling on March Break this month, I recommend ensuring you are 100% on the Wi-Fi where you are travelling. I also recommend that if you work out of coffee shops, restaurants, or other familiar gathering places, please do not use the free Wi-Fi. While the business offers a lovely option as an incentive to utilize its services, it’s simply not worth the risk.

Stay Safe, everyone!

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