If you use a browser-based Web mail service, select https access here as well. Many email providers also offer transport encryption. Modern browsers indicate activation of encrypted transport not only in the URL but also show a padlock symbol in the address bar. When communicating with your bank electronically, you should always make sure you use the https access page anyway most banks no longer permit any other kind of access for online banking. It’s simple, at least for you as the user: You only need be sure and select a secure https connection with a website or online service. The simplest method is what’s called transport encryption. You can realize encryption in public WiFi on different levels – with varying levels of complexity and effort for you as the user. When the data transmitted via WiFi is encrypted, listeners are helpless: they see only trash, and cannot decrypt the data even with a strong cryptographic attack. With regard to email, we’ve already mentioned the operative word: encryption. However, as soon as sensitive data is concerned, such as passwords or confidential information, you need to be careful: There are precautions and actions you can implement that will keep you relatively safe even in public WiFi networks. But you need to be aware that someone may be reading your data at all times – admittedly, you may decide this is acceptable and transmit only data that you would write on a postcard. If you’ve been communicating openly via the internet, for instance by sending unencrypted emails, you can of course continue to do this via public WiFi. Scared? Don’t let scenarios like this spook you. It’s no longer just about eavesdropping: attackers can extract and exploit security-relevant data – enabling them to hijack your Facebook account or your banking app ( ). These apps make sophisticated network technology available to everyone: the nice kid with the smart phone at the next table could be running a man-in-the-middle attack using ARP spoofing – even if he has no clue about what Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) does. All you need is a smart phone and the right app. You don’t have to be a network wizard anymore to tap into mobile users in a café while they’re updating their Facebook statuses or checking their bank balance. In principle, anyone accessing the same hotspot as you can also intercept all communication passing through it. Once we are aware of the risks, we can understand what’s OK and what isn’t – and take precautions to make surfing via public WiFi access virtually as safe as at home.ĭepend on it: you can’t trust anyone in a public WiFi network, and you have to assume that other users can intercept both incoming and outgoing data. Being able to to connect while out and about, at a café, waiting at the train station or airport or even while shopping in town, without using up your data plan: What’s not to like? However, many people are still not aware of the risks entailed in public WiFi and accessing the internet via public hotspots. Public WiFi is cool, particularly when it’s offered provider-independent and free of charge as a community service by Freifunk ( ). The following must be specified when used: author, client and license (designation and URL). This text may be duplicated and disseminated under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerives license 3.0 Germany (CC BY-ND 3.0 DE). Opinion of independent expert, Jürgen Kuri, vice-editor in chief of computer publication c’t - magazin für computertechnik / heise online on behalf of the NRW State Chancellory. ► Download PDF - Safe surfing on public WiFi
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