| File #: | 21-0718 |
| Type: | Contract | Status: | Agenda Ready |
| In control: | City Council |
| On agenda: | 7/1/2021 |
| Title: | Purchase of Outdoor Wireless Access Points (Replacement) for the Department of Innovation and Technology (Smart Cities Initiative) (Citywide) |
| Attachments: | 1. Council Report |
How to Avoid Public WiFi Security Risks
Wi-Fi users are at risk from hackers, but fortunately there are safeguards against them. The recent explosion of free, public Wi-Fi has been an enormous boon for working professionals. Since these free access points are available at restaurants, hotels, airports, bookstores, and even random retail outlets, you are rarely more than a short trip away from access to your network, and your work. This freedom comes at a price, though, and few truly understand the public Wi-Fi risks associated with these connections.
The Risks of a Public Wi-fi
The same features that make free Wi-Fi hotspots desirable for consumers make them desirable for hackers... the hacker has access to every piece of information you're sending out on the Internet: important emails, credit card information and even security credentials to your business network. Once the hacker has that information, he can — at his leisure — access your systems as if he were you.
Hackers can also use an unsecured Wi-Fi connection to distribute malware. If you allow file-sharing across a network, the hacker can easily plant infected software on your computer.
Turn Off Sharing
When connecting to the Internet at a public place, you're unlikely to want to share anything. You can turn off sharing from the system preferences or Control Panel, depending on your OS, or let Windows turn it off for you by choosing the "Public" option the first time you connect to a new, unsecured network.
Keep Wi-Fi Off When You Don't Need It
Even if you haven't actively connected to a network, the Wi-Fi hardware in your computer is still transmitting data between any network within range. . .
Stay Protected
Even individuals who take all the possible public Wi-Fi security precautions are going to run across issues from time to time. It's just a fact of life in this interconnected age. That's why it's imperative to keep a robust Internet security solution installed and running on your machine. These solutions can constantly run a malware scan on your files, and will always scan new files as they are downloaded. . .
Purpose and Recommendation 
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