Not All Wi-Fi Networks Are Created Equal - Protect Yourself

Last updated on Wednesday, August 5, 2015

(INDIANAPOLIS) - Public Wi-Fi networks are convenient, but often they are not secure.

If you connect to a public Wi-Fi network and send information through the Internet or mobile apps, your information might become vulnerable to hackers. To protect yourself:

Know about encryption and how it works. Encryption scrambles information sent through the Internet into a code so it's not accessible to others.
Look to see if https is at the start of the web address ( the "s" is for secure).
Unlike websites, mobile apps don't have a visible indicator like https, but many mobile apps don't encrypt information properly, so using certain apps in unsecured Wi-Fi is not advised.
Don't assume a public Wi-Fi hotspots are secure: if a network doesn't require a WPA or WPA2 password, it's probably not secure.
Remember, do not stay permanently signed into accounts, and logout after each session. Do not use the same password on different sites. If someone gains access to one, the other accounts may be vulnerable as well. Make sure your browser security software is up-to-date.

For more information, please contact BBB at info@indybbb.org or 1-866-463-9222. Look for the seal to find a business you can trust. Start your search at www.bbb.org/indy.

About BBB Serving Central Indiana

For more than 100 years, Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2014, people turned to BBB more than 165 million times for BBB Business Reviews on more than 4.7 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org. The Council of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for 113 local, independent BBBs in the United States, Canada and Mexico, as well as home to its national programs on dispute resolution, advertising review, and industry self-regulation. BBB Serving Central Indiana was founded in 1916 and serves 46 counties in Indiana.

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