When you’re out and about, Wi-Fi can be hard to come by. That’s why it’s so useful to connect to public networks at coffee shops, airports, hotels, etc. But these networks aren’t exactly secure, and could be more trouble than they’re worth.
Most public Wi-Fi networks are not encrypted. In layman’s terms, that means that the connection between your device and the network is not protected. If a bad actor wanted to see what you were up to, they’d be able to quite easily.
With an encrypted connection, all that would-be hacker would see is a seemingly random scramble of data. Unencrypted, however, and that person has carte blanche access to your data.
Not only can bad actors see your internet traffic on these Wi-Fi networks, they can see the information you’re sharing with that network. That means, when you use your credit card at that store, the bad actor can see that information. When you log into your bank, they can see your credentials for that account.
If you must use public Wi-Fi, try to make sure you don’t reveal any private information. Especially stay away from any services that relate to finances!
