Cyber Attacks Can Happen to Anyone: Protect Yourself While Using Public WiFi
Tuesday, Nov 10, 2020 by Ruby Lo
Free WiFi? Yes, please! Who doesn’t love to browse the Internet in a coffee shop? When checking into a hotel, connecting to the hotel WiFi is usually the first thing you do once settling in. The welcoming receptionist tells you their hotel WiFi is free and without a password, you just need to type in your room number. It sounds wonderful, isn’t it?
Indeed, public WiFi is very convenient. Sadly, you’re not the only one who enjoys free public WiFi, hackers do too. In fact, free hotel WiFi is “a hacker’s dream”. A Bloomberg report mentioned that a visa card with a high limit can be sold for about $20 on the black market. Whether you’re in a hotel, airport, or coffee shop, hackers can steal your online identity easily.
Use a WiFi Repeater
So how can you protect yourself from hackers while traveling? In this digital age, free WiFi is too tempting to say no. In this case, we recommend purchasing a dual-band travel router as a wireless repeater. In case you don’t know, when using the repeater mode, your router picks up the existing WiFi network (the hotel public WiFi network), and it helps to boost the WiFi signal.
Some routers in the market work in WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider) mode by default on repeater mode, which allows the router to create its own subnet and act as a firewall to protect you from the public network. However, bear in mind that not every router can be switched to WISP mode.
Get a VPN
Of course, it is not enough to just set your travel router as the repeater. You also need an encrypted tunnel to ensure the sensitive data is safely transmitted. If you connect to public WiFi without a VPN, criminals could potentially access any sensitive data stored on your device, including email login, bank login, credit card number etc. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, which helps to protect yourself from hackers or snoopers when using public WiFi. It also helps to hide your true location by assigning you a new IP address. In this way, using a VPN can add an extra layer to your Internet security.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
All of our routers support 30+ OpenVPN & WireGuard VPN service providers. By using a VPN router, the service covers all your devices, such as laptops, phones, gaming consoles, TV etc. Your data will be protected when using a VPN. No more hackers, government surveillance, or ISP spying on any of your devices.
Related Article: Top 5 VPN that We Recommend in 2020
Be Aware of Man-in-the-Middle Attacks
Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack is a form of eavesdropping, which is one of the most common threats on public WiFi. When users connect to the Internet, data is sent from users to the website. And the vulnerabilities between the connection allows an attacker to access your data and information.
There are several ways to prevent the MitM attack, such as avoiding WiFi connections that aren’t protected by password (aka public WiFi). Even if you need to use public WiFi, avoid conducting sensitive transactions with it. You can also utilize cybersecurity services like Cloudflare to further protect yourself.
What Can We Help You?
Get a reliable and secure travel WiFi router! There are so many well-known travel routers, but not all of them are adopting first-class cybersecurity protocols. We recommend Beryl, our brand-new pocket-sized travel router with top-notch security features. You can set up Beryl as a wireless repeater when you are on the go, and the good news is, Beryl is available with WISP mode included, giving you extra protection.
If you are familiar with our brand, you know all our products support 30+ popular VPN service providers, including NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark etc. Beryl is not an exception in keeping your Internet connection private with impressive VPN speeds of up to 91Mbps with WireGuard and 21Mbps with OpenVPN.
Apart from that, Tor (The Onion Router) is also pre-installed in Beryl. In this way, your online identity and browsing data will be concealed from government surveillance and third-party trackers. Your data will even be encrypted three times as it passes over the Tor network! You shouldn’t be worried about the MitM attack as well, because Beryl supports Cloudflare and NextDNS. Cloudflare prevents manipulation of DNS data via man-in-the-middle attacks. NextDNS provides the latest DNS technology supports such as DoT (DNS over TLS), DoH (DNS over HTTPS), Query Name Minimisation, and DNSSEC Validation.
Apart from world-class cybersecurity features, Beryl also comes with powerful and high-performance hardware, including dual-band WiFi with fast speeds up to 400Mbps (2.4GHz) + 867Mbps (5GHz). It also comes with an advanced CPU, Type-C power supply, USB-A 3.0 port, and 3 Gigabit Ethernet port, providing an excellent WiFi experience for customers on the go.
What’re you waiting for? Stay connected wherever you go! Beryl is now available! Visit here for more information about this high-performance travel router.
About GL.iNet
We are a leading developer of OpenWRT pre-installed wireless routers and world-class solution providers, offering quality services of smart cities, data privacy protection, and enterprise IoT. We partner with like-minded companies around the globe to provide phenomenal products and services. We aim to build a smarter lifestyle. For more information, visit gl-inet.com, or connect with GL.iNet on Facebook, Twitter, and GL.iNet’s Blog.
