Public Wi-Fi Safety: What You Need to Know

Free airport and café Wi-Fi can expose your data to hackers. Here's how to stay safe — or when to avoid it entirely.

The Real Risks of Public Wi-Fi

On unsecured public networks, a skilled attacker on the same network can potentially intercept your unencrypted data — this is called a "man-in-the-middle" attack. They can also create fake Wi-Fi hotspots with legitimate-sounding names ("Airport_Free_WiFi") to capture your traffic.

What's Safe on Public Wi-Fi

Reading news, Wikipedia, or general browsing (HTTPS sites)
Watching YouTube, streaming services
Using apps with end-to-end encryption (WhatsApp messages, Signal)

What to NEVER Do on Public Wi-Fi

Banking, net banking, UPI transactions
Logging into email or social media without a VPN
Shopping with card details
Accessing work systems or sensitive documents

Use mobile data instead: For anything sensitive, switch off Wi-Fi and use your mobile data (4G/5G). It's encrypted end-to-end by default and far more secure than public Wi-Fi.

How a VPN Helps

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) encrypts all your internet traffic so that even on a compromised network, an attacker can only see encrypted gibberish. If you frequently use public Wi-Fi, a VPN is worth the small monthly cost.

Reputable VPNs: ProtonVPN, Mullvad, NordVPN, ExpressVPN
Avoid "free" VPNs — they often monetise your browsing data
A VPN is not a silver bullet — still avoid banking on public Wi-Fi even with one