You may have noticed there are a lot of “never ever’s” when it comes to using public Wi-Fi — as in, never, ever do certain things because doing so could put your phone’s data at serious risk. It’s possibly that you’ve been using public Wi-Fi for years without any issues. But because it only takes one bad player to ruin everything, why risk it? These changes you can make to your settings every time you enter a cafe to work or decide to kick back at the airport and see what everyone is up to on TikTok could make a huge difference in your security outcomes. Tech Security Expert Ros Geller at Technographx advises making these three changes to settings whenever you use a public Wi-Fi network.
Disable Automatic Wi-Fi Connection:
Your iPhone is set to automatically connect to known Wi-Fi networks, which is pretty useful when you’re at home or at work but it can be dangerous when you’re using it in a public place, Geller notes. “Hackers can set up fake Wi-FI networks with similar names to popular ones and your iPhone can connect to them automatically, putting your data at risk.”
To disable automatic Wi-Fi connection go to settings > tap wifi > turn off Auto Join.
Turn off Airdrop:
If you’ve ever been out with friends and have wanted to send them a bunch of photos at once without experiencing the bottleneck that can come from iMessages, you already know about the greatness of Airdrop. But it isn’t without risks. “Airdrop is a feature that allows you to share files with other Apple devices nearby,” Geller says. “However, it can also expose your iPhone to anyone on the same network. To turn off Airdrop Swipe up from the bottom of your iPhone’s screen to open the Control Center. Tap and hold the network settings box in the upper left corner > Tap Airdrop > Select Receiving Off.”
Use a VPN:
Here’s one that most security experts agree upon: you should really never use public Wi-Fi without the security of a VPN. “A VPN encrypts your internet traffic and hides your IP address and makes it harder for hackers to intercept your data,” Geller explains. “VPN plays a crucial part when you are using public Wi-Fi. You can download a VPN app from the App store.”
These three simple changes can save you the headache of dealing with a successful hacking attempt.
