Internet safety: attention to public WLAN

Today there are WLAN Hotspots in all urban areas. But no one should surf with confidence, because foreigners can steal data.
Morning at the hotel, be repatriated quickly emails and later coffee, we read his messages on his laptop: thanks to the Wireless Local Area Networks, known by the abbreviation WLAN or WiFi, surfing when you are on the move is no longer a problem. Yet, a WLAN Hotspot urges caution, because data thieves operate there freely.

Caution required

Open to the public network, most of the time, various unknown users are active on a network, either with a smartphone, a netbook or a laptop. Thanks to the radio link, they get all access to the Internet, provided by the operator of the Hotspot. It is easy for hackers to intercept data or access to the mailbox or to the websites of online sales, because the connection is not encrypted, the data is sent in clear text.

What is important for user safety, it's not necessarily that the WLAN is encrypted or open. A network as safe as standard WPA2 protects from hackers, only if they want to enter the network from outside. Instead, all users within the network have received the data access: the vacationer who, at the next table, called home via VoIP, the blogger table below, or young in the corner, who are active on social networks.