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Moses Yoder
12-23-2014, 4:21 PM
I have decided that based on my budget and the time I will be doing this not to invest in wireless internet, instead using free wifi at fast food chains or the library. This is definitely a lifestyle change for me, limiting my time on the web. I am finding other stuff to do, such as sleeping. I realize that the wifi I am using is not secure. Avast wants money to protect me. Is there a good option to be secure on free wifi, cheap or free? I am doing things such as viewing my bank balance and paying a few bills online, logging into my bank. I am in a small town, low risk area but still there are possibilities. McDonalds wfi asks if I have a password so I asked about getting a password and the manager said "Oh, you don't need a password." I thought about trying to communicate what I wanted and gave up.

David Masters
12-23-2014, 7:02 PM
You could start by turning on the free (and installed) firewall on your Windows or Mac machine. That is all I use.

Roger Nair
12-23-2014, 7:11 PM
If you use a public unencrypted network then your accounts and passwords are at risk. Ask at the library about security for your transactions, a mind numbing array of info is available, so study up. Ignore the MacDonalds guy when you have any questions about security.

Curt Harms
12-24-2014, 6:49 AM
There is, I believe a pretty good solution but I don't know how easy it is to implement. It's called a VPN (virtual private network). Search "free VPN" or similar. Some can be had for free, some are subscription. I suspect you get what you pay for but I have no first-hand experience with any of them. I would not do anything having to do with finances or something that could be used for identity theft on a public wifi network. In theory once you establish a 'https://' connection you should be okay but why take the chance?

Phil Thien
12-24-2014, 9:50 AM
Don't sweat it, nobody cares about your activity on public wifi. The guys trying to steal data aren't going to bother with onesy twosy scenarios.

Brian Elfert
12-24-2014, 10:34 AM
If you are doing any banking it will be encrypted with SSL. Some will say it still isn't safe because somebody could possibly break the encryption, but as mentioned who would go to all the work of decrypting traffic to get one credit card number? The criminals want to go after the big scores like breaking into Target, Home Depot, or the like.

Mike Henderson
12-24-2014, 1:17 PM
If you are doing any banking it will be encrypted with SSL. Some will say it still isn't safe because somebody could possibly break the encryption, but as mentioned who would go to all the work of decrypting traffic to get one credit card number? The criminals want to go after the big scores like breaking into Target, Home Depot, or the like.
The SSL encryption is pretty good. It'd be tough to break with the small amount of ciphertext you'd probably send.

The basic idea behind commercial encryption is that the cost of breaking the code would be more expensive that benefit gained. (Military and political encryption has to meet a more stringent standard.)

Mike

David Masters
12-24-2014, 10:54 PM
+1 on what Phil said. Turn on the firewall, turn off all sharing (screen, file, etc), stay away from the sites you shouldn't be looking at anyway, don't download files from pirates or questionable parties, and don't click on links or save attachments in email messages without knowing who really sent them. Sensitive data you send and receive from a web site should be encrypted (look for the padlock at the bottom of the browser to ensure the site is encrypting the data). And just as important, make sure that you keep current with the security updates for OS, browser, Adobe Flash and Reader, and Java. Better yet, remove Java if you don't use it.

Otherwise, enjoy the free WiFi.

John Huds0n
12-25-2014, 11:38 AM
+1 on the VPN

I use Private Internet Access. They occasionally will run a deal - $32 per year
https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/how-it-works/