Why free public Wi‑Fi in airports, cafés and hotels is risky for travelers, how hackers use fake networks, and simple steps to protect your accounts and data.
Lounging by the sea or waiting to board, the lure of free Wi‑Fi is hard to resist. It’s quick to check messages, post a photo, or find a nearby café—convenient, effortless, and free. Yet that very simplicity can hide a serious risk: your data, passwords, and even money can be stolen.
Many networks in cafés, hotels, and airports aren’t secured—they don’t encrypt the information you transmit. That means anything you do online, from chatting and entering a password to checking a bank account, can be intercepted by others.
An attacker might be sitting a few seats away with a regular laptop, quietly capturing your data. There’s also a common trick: someone sets up a fake network with a look‑alike name, and you connect without noticing. From that moment, your online activity becomes visible to the person behind it.
These decoy networks are appearing more often in tourist hotspots. They look convincing, but they’re built as traps.
At Australian airports, hackers used devices costing about $20 to broadcast bogus Wi‑Fi. Passengers didn’t realize they’d been duped and unintentionally passed personal information to criminals.
In Russia, similar incidents have been reported at airports—especially in waiting areas, where travelers relax and stop thinking about security.
Once you join an unsafe network, your passwords, photos, banking details, or document numbers can end up in the wrong hands. Malicious software can also slip onto your phone or laptop through such a connection—and you might not notice. According to experts, cases like these are not uncommon, particularly in tourist areas.
Confirm the network name. Ask staff at the café or hotel for the exact Wi‑Fi name and connect only to the verified network.
Turn off auto‑connect, especially when traveling, so you don’t join a fake network by accident.
Avoid entering personal information. Skip online banking, password entry, and purchases while using a public network.
Prefer mobile data. If possible, use international roaming or buy a local SIM—this is the more reliable option.
Free Wi‑Fi is undeniably handy, especially on the road. But that convenience can carry a steep price—lost personal data or drained accounts.
It’s entirely possible to travel and stay connected safely with a bit more attention and fewer assumptions. In a world where so much runs on the internet, spending a couple of minutes to double‑check is far better than spending weeks restoring access to your accounts.