Forget This Network: Free Internet Danger Revealed

MOSCOW, Feb 8 – PRIME. In an effort to save the gigabytes of data included in a mobile phone package, users have become more likely to look for “savings” when connecting to the public Internet, whether it’s public transport or shopping. In an interview with the Prime agency, Maria Fesenko, an information security expert at the Security Code company, told how dangerous such a connection is and how you can protect yourself from intruders.

She noted that connecting to open Wi-Fi points is dangerous in itself. “Firstly, when connected to the public Internet, the user becomes “visible” for an attack by intruders. Secondly, data transmitted over such networks is easier to intercept and decrypt, for example, a username and password for accessing a client bank,” the expert noted.

She added that many Russians do not like it when connecting to public Wi-Fi requires some kind of authorization, say, a phone or mail. However, this should not alarm, but, on the contrary, please: the more such requirements, the higher the reliability of the network and the lower the likelihood of being attacked.
When connecting to public Wi-Fi points, you must follow three simple security rules, the agency interlocutor advises.

Pay attention to the network name when connecting. “Using a public network is risky in itself, because there may already be hackers looking for a victim. And some attackers do it even more cunningly – they create their networks by imitating well-known access points. Therefore, before connecting to a particular network, make sure that there is nothing suspicious in its name – extra characters, numbers instead of letters, and so on,” Fesenko explained.