Smartphone security on a public wifi

D

Dimitri

Member
Should I take any security precautions when using a public wifi with my phone? Obviously, I won't be doing any banking or anything like that, just internet browsing, facebook and whatsapp.
 
Depends what you're doing, if using all HTTPS services then you'll be fine. If you aren't sending anything valuable or identifiable then who cares.

Otherwise you could wrap it in a VPN when using other unsecure networks.

Just plan on everything you send being visible to some other party when using those networks unless you have end to end encryption.
 
So, unless I'm doing banking, the worst that could happen is someone could see my Facebook password or the password for my computer forum account?
 
Dimitri said:
So, unless I'm doing banking, the worst that could happen is someone could see my Facebook password or the password for my computer forum account?
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Facebook uses HTTPS so it won't be a problem. Anything that doesn't use HTTPS for web browsing has the possibility of your passwords being sent and viewed by someone sniffing the network. Generally if you aren't doing anything sensitive you'll be fine, but if you use the same password for everything that would be a problem.
 
MITM (Man In The Middle) attacks exist and they could gran a SSL session. Also, you need to make sure you connect to a real free hotspot and not someone's rouge computer. You can use vpn.ac which they do have an App for.
 
Geoff said:
Facebook uses HTTPS so it won't be a problem. Anything that doesn't use HTTPS for web browsing has the possibility of your passwords being sent and viewed by someone sniffing the network. Generally if you aren't doing anything sensitive you'll be fine, but if you use the same password for everything that would be a problem.
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But even if they got my pass, for, say, this forum, they'd have to be able to connect me with whatever device I'm using to do my banking, no? If I'm not doing it from the same device I should be good?

MITM (Man In The Middle) attacks exist and they could gran a SSL session. Also, you need to make sure you connect to a real free hotspot and not someone's rouge computer.
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What could they do to my phone if I connected to such a computer?
 
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