VPN – Your Protection against Identity Theft & Fraud in public WiFi
Identity theft and fraud can occur in any setting, whether you are in a coffee shop or at the airport. These crimes are planned by professionals and they can be crimes of opportunity. The worst can happen without you noticing.
Free Wi-Fi is Costly
Public Wi-Fi is available in so many places, including book stores, coffee shops and restaurants. The increasing availability of public Wi-Fi has significantly amplified wireless hacking. People use public hotspots to bank; check social media accounts and emails. Well, hackers love these spots since they can comfortably sit back, relax and access as much information as possible from your vulnerable mobile device or PC. Hacking is quite simple nowadays; even a grade school individual can perform a hack. Present day hacking reveals more than just your personal information. Hackers can create a virtual image of you from your browsing cookies and history.
This man-in-the-middle attack covertly places something between the server and your mobile device or computer. This attack intercepts your data and then sends the info to the server as if nothing is wrong. In turn, the server will respond thinking it is communicating with the legitimate user (you). The hacker will end up having access to all the traffic without any of the public Wi-Fi hotspot users knowing. The hacker will clandestinely steal all useful information while you are comfortably surfing.
You become more vulnerable when you visit the same location time and again. Most mobile devices and PCs will tend to connect automatically to the previously used public Wi-Fi hotspot. Therefore, you do not actually have to start browsing for the hacker to begin stealing from you. The moment you step in your favorite coffee shop, where you naively think is safe to browse using the location’s Wi-Fi, is the moment you will be continuously handing over security privileges of your personal data to hackers. The auto-retrieval capabilities of some apps increase your susceptibility.
A VPN is the additional public hotspot precaution you need
A VPN is a significant tool when connecting to the internet through a public Wi-Fi hotspot. It will help you from becoming the victim of a hacker or an evil twin, which is a fake Wi-Fi hotspot to appear like a genuine hotspot. A VPN is a secure way to connect to the internet over an otherwise public hotspot. This is important, particularly when sending emails, viewing files and data that you want to safeguard from snooping eyes on the internet. Any data that you send through a VPN is encrypted and it will be passed through a heavily encrypted tunnel. Therefore, your internet service provider, network administrators and proficient hackers will have no clue of what you are sending or receiving.
You are urged to keep your mobile data safe by engaging LimeVPN for iOS and Android. With LimeVPN, you will not only be keeping your mobile data safe from hacking, but also maintaining your privacy, security and anonymity with VPN. If you are not a subscriber, register for LimeVPN trial today.
Rachael Chapman
A Complete gamer and a Tech Geek. Brings out all her thoughts and love in writing blogs on IOT, software, technology etc
