When you check in a hotel, you assume that you and your company to keep valuables safe by not sharing your room key and provide a safe -fort for your belongings. But a much bigger threat could be hidden in your rented room -. Free WiFi that most hosting providers offer
We have already spoken of the steps you should take when connecting to public wireless networks in coffee shops, but many people still do not apply these basic guarantees for the hotel Internet browsing. This is a huge mistake!
Hotel WiFi networks suffer from many of the same vulnerabilities that networks unsecured coffee shops. Not only do these networks increase your sensitivity to the "man in the middle" attacks that compromise your personal information, the FBI and the complaint of the United States Internet Crime Center (IC3) reported that cases of malware attacks on laptops connected the hotel are on the rise
According to the IC3 :.
"In these cases, the traveler tried to set up the hotel room Internet connection on and was presented with a pop-up notification window the user to update a widely used software product. If the user agreed to install the update, malicious software was installed instead. "
Yourself Ensuring safety on Hotel WiFi Networks
No matter what specific type of threat you are concerned when it comes to WiFi hotel security, basic preventive measures remain the same:
- Browse the web using a virtual private network (VPN). VPNs encrypt all of your digital communications and prevent them from being intercepted by others. This is essential to keep your personal information protected while traveling.
- Only share personal information on sites with addresses that read "HTTPS". To fully protect yourself, consider sharing any personal information online while traveling. But if you can not avoid it, look for the "S" in the URL of the website indicating that the site communications are automatically encrypted.
- Make sure file sharing is disabled. By default, many computers have enabled file sharing, letting your information and personal documents ripe for the picking by digital thieves. Although specific steps you need to follow to disable your computer's file sharing vary according to its manufacturing and operating system, it is worth looking up these procedures and their implementation before you connect the first time on the WiFi system of your hotel.
- Turn on your firewall (and make sure it is updated). A good firewall program will deter some malicious attacks - but only if it is activated and regularly updated. On its own, your firewall will not completely prevent hacking attempts, but there is a significant gap measure if your other actions fail.
- The updating of your Internet browser. At the same time, make sure that your web browsers are updated. Many popular browsers have protection against identity theft features that alert you to any perceived threats. While - again - they are not a perfect solution to unsecured WiFi networks, they will minimize the risk to some extent
What about the word network password-protected
But what.? if you happen to be staying in a hotel that secures its network by providing encryption router and a password that is given only to clients? Sorry to burst your bubble, but you're not sure
To understand why, consider the two types of encryption the router that hotels could offer -. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and WiFi Protected Access (WPA).
WEP protocols are dated and offer very little in the way of digital security, as they have been in service for over 15 years. And although both WPA and WPA2 certification programs have been developed to compensate for the weaknesses of WEP, they are still not foolproof. They can be cracked in most cases, and are almost useless anyway if the hacker in question is also a guest at the hotel with the same network access you have been granted.
I use the Ethernet connection instead ...
And finally -
of the trendiest hotel networks are sorry networks to burst your bubble but the wired Ethernet connection to your hotel offers is no more secure than its wireless LANs. (LAN) - a protocol that is over 30 years. Originally developed in the mid 1970s by Xerox, local networks were designed to be used internally by companies or other groups of people. And because there was no reason to anticipate malicious behavior within these groups, LAN configurations were built without proper security protocols are in place.
To make matters worse, an estimated 20% of hotels in the United States use a type of local network called "Hub Configuration", which is to send all the data to a network each computer . is connected to the group in his original incarnation, the LAN computers were only supposed to listen to the data intended for them, which - again -. is not a problem when all members of a network can be trusted
in hotels, though, random guests can spend their mode network cards "promiscuity" and view all unencrypted data being sent across the LAN. If you're not careful, this information could include information personal identification, passwords and sensitive documents that must not fall into the wrong hands.
Although there are other types of LAN configurations in use in hotels, the thing you should take away from this article is that no hotel network - whether wired or wireless - is really safe from hacking attempts. Instead, it is up to you to take the necessary steps to protect your security data. By installing a VPN, locking your system and be careful about the types of information you share, you can reduce the stress of traveling, keeping your data safe.
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