Hotel guests insist on free wifi. But, they also ask questions about their online security and privacy. Travelers want to feel like they’re at home. This includes feeling safe while video chatting or transferring business documents.
Top questions from hotel guests include:
is hotel wifi safe for banking?
can hotels see what websites you visit on wifi?
is hotel wifi safe for iphones?
how can i stay safe on hotel wifi?
is vpn
secure
over public wifi?
alleviating your guest’s cybersecurity concerns is vital for your hotel’s reputation. It also affects their comfort and satisfaction. Start with a safe, managed wifi company , and use best practices to secure customer data.
Photo : stephen phillips - hostreviews. Co. Uk on unsplash even when we are traveling, keeping a connection to the internet has become a must. The majority of hotels give their clients free access to wi-fi. If you don't use caution, though, using hotel wifi can expose you to a number of security threats. You will get some key advice in this article on how to connect to hotel wifi securely and safeguard your personal data.
Is It Safe To Use Hotel Wi-Fi?
01 may 2019 | blog \ travel
these days we all have some sort of device in the luggage. Whether you bring your laptop, ipad or phone along for the trip you will at some point most likely connect to the free hotel wifi. The question is if it’s safe to do so.
The short answer is no. When you connect to a public wifi network like one found in a hotel then you can be easily targeted by what is known as a man in the middle attack. Other guests or individuals connected to the network will be able to harvest the data you send while connected to the wifi.
How safe are the wifi connections that you use when away from home, who owns them, who runs them and how secure are they? well chances are, like most of us, you’re likely to have virtually no idea about the answers to any of these questions. For sure, you might hazard that the owner is starbucks or the hotel management, but that will probably be only a guess based on your location (many firms outsource their internet provision in any case). The reality is that you have little or no information concerning any wifi connection you use, when away from your office or home.
Is Hotel Wi-Fi Safe? What Are the Risks?
Public wi-fi networks do pose a danger to personal information, but understanding the risks is your first step to using these types of networks safely. If you're staying at a hotel with free wi-fi, use these tips to keep your devices and personal information safe: verify the official network name: one way hackers try to trick hotel guests is by creating a fake hotel wi-fi network. If you accidentally log in to one of these instead of the official network, your data could get breached. When you check in, ask the front desk for the name of the wi-fi network to make sure you aren't setting yourself up for danger right away.
In an era where being connected is as routine as breathing (though we don't recommend substituting one for the other), the safety concerns surrounding hotel wi-fi are a growing area of interest and caution. Now, we're not saying that using hotel wi-fi is like walking through a minefield, but there are some "tripwires" that users should be aware of. So, what are these risks, and why should tom, dick, or harriet care? let's delve into the slightly less exciting but equally significant aspect of our relationship with hotel wi-fi.
We might think that a password-protected public network is secure. But if the password is available to anyone who asks, how could it possibly help your security? even worse, a lot of public wi‑fi safety threats do not even require the hacker to join the network. A common trick that hackers use is called the evil twin. If you see a hotspot with the name of a café or the words “free airport wifi”, do you think twice about joining? criminals can set up hotspots with innocent names using inexpensive, store-bought devices. They then steal the data of everyone connecting to their so-called free wi‑fi.
Hotel wi-fi is not always safe. Actually, hotels are considered some of the riskier places to use wi-fi because they might lack basic security features. You can get hacked using hotel wi-fi since they are attractive targets for hackers due to the large number of people who use them. Even if its security is relatively sound, there are other risk factors associated with it being a widely shared network. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use the internet in your lodgings. Before you tap connect, take a few precautions to protect your connection. Read more: ethernet vs. Wi-fi: which is better?.
To see what potential hackers could see on a shared network, we invited professionals from cybersecurity company avast to “compromise” my home network (all with my consent). We logged onto the same network at the same time, just like we would at a coffee shop, to see how much data a bad actor with a few free tools could learn about an unassuming wifi user. What we found might be a relief for the coffee shop crowd. After a few minutes clicking around my finance, work, streaming and social media accounts, avast’s team could see the sites i’d visited (though not what i’d done there), the time of day and the specific device i used (in this case, a macbook pro).