Coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, airports…you name it. Almost everywhere you go these days, you can connect to the internet over a public Wi-Fi network from your laptop. When you hop on a public wireless network, there are special precautions you need to take to make surfing the web as safe as possible and to protect your confidential information.

How can you stay safe the next time you’re at a café and connect to the internet?

• Know what you’re up against—The first thing you have to know is the dangers of connection to a public wireless network. Simply put, there is no such thing as privacy when you’re on a public network. If you connect normally and don’t take the other precautions in this list, you’re fully exposed to anyone else on the network. This allows personal information to become compromised, putting you at risk.
• Turn off all sharing—When you’re on your home network, you may have the sharing option turned on for your laptop. This lets you easily share files, printers, and more from your home network. But if you leave this option on when you’re out in public, everyone else who’s connected to the network can access whatever it is that you’re sharing. Turn off sharing to help stay safe!
• Turn on your firewall—Let’s be clear: The firewall alone won’t protect you fully from all the threats lurking out there. However, having your firewall enabled does improve your safety while on a public Wi-Fi network. Chances are your operating system has a firewall. Just double check to ensure it’s on before you connect online in public.
• Use SSL for checking email—Most of us check our email as soon as we get online. Whenever possible, you need to use SSL for checking webmail. SSL secures your email to ensure all information is transmitted securely. You can see that it’s activated when the toolbar begins with “HTTPS”. Gmail automatically uses HTTPS for your entire mail session, but others may not.
• If you aren’t online, turn the Wi-Fi off—Maybe you’re working on a presentation for work or you’re doing a school project and don’t need the internet. If you aren’t using the internet, go ahead and deactivate the Wi-Fi connection on your computer. This way, no one can breach your security and access private information. This is the absolute best way to stay safe when using your computer in public.