Secure public Wi-Fi
PUPPY LINUX
Nate Drake helps you take your life in your hands as you navigate the murky world of public wireless hotspots.
OUR EXPERT
Nate Drake
broke out of his cubicle at Apple eight years ago to become a freelance journalist specialising in cybersecurity and retro tech.
A ccording to a 2023 study by Forbes, four out of 10 people surveyed said they’d had their A information compromised when using public Wi-Fi. Still, no one can deny the attraction of free, unlimited internet. The same survey found that the most common reasons people connect are to cut down on their mobile data usage.
The main risk you run when connecting to public Wi-Fi, even as a Linux user, is that your device will fall victim to a MITM (man in the middle) attack.
One common attack is to send fake ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) messages to impersonate another device, such as the network gateway. This technique, known as ARP spoofing, can be used to intercept and even manipulate your network traffic.
Many public hotspot users fancy that they’re immune to these kinds of attacks if the wireless network is secured – via WPA2, for example. While this encrypts the connection between your device and the router, the Wi-Fi key for public networks is usually simple to find out. This means the attacker can be inside the same network using said encryption key, so it offers very little extra security.