Data breaches have increased 13% since 2021, with employee data breaches currently at a five-year high, jumping by 57% from 2023 – but are businesses doing enough to warn their staff about the risk of cybercrime?
Now, according to experts public Wi-Fi hotspots may be one of the most overlooked threats to businesses and their employees’ data.
James Milin-Ashmore, Best VPN expert at Independent Advisor VPN explains:
“Public Wi-Fi is inherently insecure. Unlike private networks, public Wi-Fi lacks robust encryption, making it an easy target for cybercriminals. Furthermore, these hotspots are so widespread that people frequently connect to them without thinking twice or considering the potential risks adding to their danger.
“Although it sounds harmless to log on and check your social media account or browse your emails, many of these everyday activities require a login. This could be risky business on public Wi-Fi because cybercriminals have a wide variety of methods they can use to effectively ‘listen in’ on any data being shared over unsecured networks, meaning that harmless login could be the key that unlocks everything from your passwords to your banking details for any hacker in the know.”
Tips for using public Wi-Fi for work:
Do
- Invest in a VPN: A VPN is one of the easiest ways to make public Wi-Fi a little safer, as it encrypts your internet traffic and masks your IP address, protecting your data from potential eavesdroppers and hackers.
- Get your head in the cloud: Where possible try and use secure cloud storage solutions for business communications and file sharing such as Google Drive or OneDrive. These will often have built-in security features, adding an extra layer of protection when accessing confidential information.
- Get personal: Consider connecting through your personal hotspot instead. This is often safer than public Wi-Fi as it uses your mobile network which is typically encrypted. You also have full control over who is accessing your hotspot making it harder for hackers to listen in.
Don’t
- Forget the S: Check the URL of any website you’re visiting while on public Wi-Fi to ensure it uses HTTPS. HTTP does not encrypt data during client-to-server communication, meaning that any data transmitted over HTTP is sent in plain text without any encryption or security mechanisms.
- Check the finances: It’s always best to err on the side of caution with any confidential information. If there is even a 1% chance the network you’re using is not secure, wait before accessing any sensitive documents.
- Disable firewalls: If you’re using a work device, such as a company laptop, it may already have several security features installed such as antivirus software or firewalls. It’s important to keep these in place as they can protect your device against a number of the dangers public Wi-Fi presents.
