Safe internet surfing

Threats associated with the use of public wi-fi networks

Public wi-fi networks have become a part of our life. You can find them everywhere: in cafes and restaurants, clinics, subways, shopping malls, airports, hotels during vacations or business trips, etc. It's nice to be able to browse the news feed in your favorite social network or watch videos without thinking about the consumption of Internet traffic. However, with the growing popularity and spread of public network access points, the number of people who want to use them for their own, far from harmless, purposes has also increased.

Any place is unthinkable without WiFi these days.
Any place is unthinkable without WiFi these days.

Here are some of the types of attacks on public access points:

  • Doppelganger network. In this scenario, an attacker finds a public wi-fi hotspot (for example, in a shopping mall) and creates his own hotspot with the same or similar name. If a password is required to access the "real" access point, the attacker can verify it with the staff, and then put the same password on the doppelganger network. The user may connect to the doppelganger network simply because the attacker's device is closer and provides a better signal quality than the "real" access point. The attacker will then have access to the user's payment information, logins and passwords, photos, and other sensitive information.
  • Traffic interception. When using open public wi-fi networks that do not ask for a password when connecting, data is transmitted unencrypted. Using special software, a fraudster can intercept the data packets exchanged between your device and the public access point. By analyzing the contents of these packets, he can gain access to sensitive information and your Internet activity, including confidential information.
    • Open WiFi network is more dangerous.
    Open WiFi network is more dangerous.
  • DNS spoofing. In this case, the cybercriminal spoofs the router's DNS (Domain Name System, i.e. name and ip address server) settings. An unsuspecting user instead of a trusted, reliable website ends up on a fake copy of it, after which all the data entered by the user falls directly into the hands of criminals. This includes fake online stores, where purchases can result in the loss of money and personal data.

As network technology advances, many vulnerabilities in public wi-fi networks are being addressed, but cybercriminals have new tools to launch their attacks. The potential uses of hacked data are quite wide: collection and resale of personal data, embezzlement, extortion and blackmail, industrial espionage, and even hidden cryptocurrency mining. The absolute majority of Internet security experts agree that the most reliable way to minimize the risks associated with the use of public Internet access points is to use a VPN. To learn more about the differences between a regular Internet connection and a VPN-protected one, you can follow this link.