Wi-Fi Warnings
A s much as sunscreen and books are travel necessities, so, today, are laptops and Smartphones. And to get online, people are increasingly taking advantage of wireless (Wi-Fi) networks: at airports, in hotels and even while in the air, as more and more planes offer passengers Wi-Fi connections in-flight.
While offering convenience and flexibility, please always bear in mind that Wi-Fi networks are also easy entry points for crooks looking to steal your money, account information and identity.
Your perfect vacation could be ruined in an instant by cyber-criminals looking to rob you of your personal information. Imagine stepping off the plane, ready to start your vacation, only to realize that between "here" and "there" your bank account has been wiped out and your credit card information stolen.
Norton, from Symantec - a world leader in online
security - has five easy tips to ensure you remain safe:
**Pay attention to your surroundings. Remember, if you can read his magazine, the guy sitting next to you on the plane can also read your laptop screen! Just because you're on vacation, doesn't mean you're not still in public.
**Beware of "Evil Twins". Some Wi-Fi networks can appear to be legitimate, but are NOT. Criminals can create "dummy" networks or websites that contain the name of the airline, hotel or airport, but actually will direct your information to their own computer. If you always use the access keys provided by the airline, hotel, or airport, you'll be protected.
**Always assume your Wi-Fi connections are being eavesdropped on. Never enter sensitive data (bank account information, social security numbers, etc.) when browsing the web via a Wi-Fi network.
**Set any Bluetooth devices to "hidden", not "discoverable". If you do not use the Bluetooth function, turn it off altogether.
**Keep your security software current and active.
Remember, mobile PCs are vulnerable to the same viruses, Trojans, and worms as your home computer.
As all of us travel and frequently use other computers to log onto our e-mail, etc. the following is definitely applicable:
**After using a public terminal, it is important that you remember to delete the browser cache, history, and passwords. Most browsers automatically keep track of all the web pages that you have visited, and some keep track of any passwords and personal information that you enter in order to help you fill out similar forms in the future.
**If this information falls into the wrong hands, it can lead to identity theft and stolen bank and email information. Because the stakes are so high, it is important that new internet users be aware of how to clear a public computer’s browser cache so that they can delete private information before lurking hackers can get hold of it.
For more tips visit: www.itsecurity.com/features/top-10-famous-hackers-042407
**For those of you using Mozilla's Firefox: simply press Ctrl+Shift+Del. Tips & Tricks: www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox
**Opera users: you need to go to Tools>>Delete Private Data. www.opera.com
**And users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer:
On Explorer 8 browser go to top bar Tools, click on Internet Options then on the General tab ‘Browsing History’, check mark ‘Delete Browsing History’ on Exit or click Delete button, and choose the items to delete.
**On Explorer 8 website - Internet Explorer 8 helps keeps you safer online.
Download this PDF that contains more information. www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx.
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