Seven Ultimate Tips to Keep You Safe on a Public Wi-Fi

A large number of coffee shops and restaurants these days allow their customers the luxury of using high speed Internet. And the temptation to take out the laptop of the bag or access your favorite website over your cell phone can, at times, be too great to resist.

Earlier this evening, I went for a cup of espresso to a popular coffee shop in my neighborhood and saw a college girl making some online purchases using their Wi-Fi network over her laptop. The question that cropped up in my mind on seeing her do that was whether it is safe to use a public Wi-Fi for making online purchases?

Or better still, what are the other precautions which a person can and must keep in mind before asking for the password:

Simple tips to keep you safe on a public Wi-fi:

1. Disable "sharing" options: Make sure to check your privacy settings of your phone or laptop whenever you are using a public Wi-Fi network. Click "Disable" on options like "Allow remote login" and "Share your music library." Unless you do that, people using the same networks you are can hack your PC. If you still want to share your files with others, have a look on the top 10 best file sharing services.

Don't make yourself open to hack attacks by disallowing all such file, printer sharing options.

2. Use a VPN: Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is the safest option in case you must use a public Wi-Fi. It allows you to be safe even when you have to access the Internet in a public area.

If you are one of those people who are always on the move and need to use public Wi-Fi networks quite often, it would be best to go in for paid VPN though there are subscribers who'll offer free VPN services. Doing so protects all your personal information and files. The best thing about using paid VPN is that they do not cost a fortune either!

3. Disable the option called "Connect automatically to Wi-Fi hotspots": Some people fiddle with their smartphone or laptop settings without realizing the implications of it all. Check up your device you intend to use on a public Wi-fi system to make sure that the "Connect automatically to Wi-Fi hotspots: option is disabled.

Failure to do so enables open (and perhaps malicious) networks to have access to the files and information stored in your device while you are blissfully unaware of the whole thing.

This is something you should do immediately because the default settings of most smartphones are set to this. And you manually need to disable these to make sure that you are safe.

If you cannot see the "Disable Auto-connect" when you go to the Wi-fi settings of your device, you are safe already.

4. Make sure to confirm the name of the network you are using: The world is full of people who want to trick you and dupe you at every step. People who sustain a living out of getting access to personal information of people by hacking into their accounts might set up malicious public networks solely to attract unsuspecting users. Most of such networks are anonymous.

When you use a public Wi-Fi, ask the people around to tell you the name of the network and are not putting your device into a mischief monger's hands.

5. Have multiple passwords: This is a basic advice which holds good even when you are not using a public Internet. If you use the same password for your email login, your PayPal account, your Internet banking services, your Facebook id, etc., you are only making things so much more easier for hackers. All he needs to do is crack that one password to have access to all your highly personalized and confidential information.

You could use even use a password manager like LastPass or KeePass to help you with this. The best thing is that they are both totally free of cost, though they have diametrically different methods of going about their job.

6. Keep the Firewall on: Though turning on the Firewall does not ensure complete safety for you and your data, it can help you know about the incoming and outgoing connections. You can turn on the Firewall on a Windows based device and a Mac as well.

You can know more about the Firewall settings by checking up the "System Preferences" of your device.

7. Use an anti-virus: Now, this is something most people ignore, only to regret their folly later. Running a fully updated anti-virus can help you in most cases when you sign in to an unauthorized network. It can also inform you if it sees some unusual activity on your device. This, however, might not be able to inform you about all hack attacks.

If you do not pay any attention to the tips listed above and continue to use public wireless Internet, you might find yourself getting bills for making online purchases through your credit card. And it can take you ages to realize that some smart hacker did so by accessing your info while you made some purchases using the same credit card while you were sinking your teeth into your extra-cheese pizza at the your favorite eating joint!