Tip of the Week: How to Securely Connect to Public WiFi

As the Internet of Things and BYOD make headlines in the technology world, more and more devices are connecting to wireless networks. While this means that technology continues to grow more mobile, it also means that threats are given new avenues to access countless devices, many of which might contain information of a personal nature.

A secure WiFi connection is important as ever, and in case you didn’t know, public WiFi hotspots (such as those at restaurants and hotels) aren’t nearly as secure as you need them to be. What would happen if you connected to one of these hotspots while on a business trip and malware infected your device? All of the valuable information on that device is now at the mercy of hackers. To make matters worse, public WiFi hotspots generally don’t encrypt data, meaning that anyone can access the stream of data if they work hard enough.

Your business still has options to overcome these vulnerabilities, though. With a little bit of policy placement and enforcement, you too can help your remote workers keep their WiFi networks secure. Here are some methods you can try to improve the security of your technology while doing field work:

Disable Your WiFi Adapters
Some devices are designed with the innate ability to detect and sign onto whatever wireless network they can find. This can be dangerous, as you have no idea what (or who) could be found on an unsecured wireless network. You can bet that your company’s data doesn’t want to know, either. Instead of gambling with your important information, turn off the automated connection feature on your devices. This means you have to manually connect to a wireless network, and it sure beats losing your information (and your job).

Encourage and Enforce Secure Connections
If your team is only connecting to secure connections, your worries are far less called for. One big reason for this is that secure connections operate with encryption. This protects data from potential threats. In fact, some companies will only allow their devices to connect to secured hotspots. This can help ensure that your business’s data is never put at risk on an open connection.

This goes hand-in-hand with making sure that you are connecting to the best of the WiFi networks available. A lot of the time, you might find several WiFi locations in one space. Not all of these are equal, and some might even be unsecured.

Use Powerful Security Solutions
In order to keep your devices as secure as possible while connected to an unknown WiFi network, you should be using the latest versions of your operating system and have all available updates and patches implemented on your device. Antivirus software and firewalls also go a long way toward keeping the latest threats out of your system, while web content blocking and spam filtering can help keep you away from malicious websites and emails. Computerware can equip you with these solutions and help you stay up-to-date with your patches and upgrades.

Try a VPN from Computerware
One of the best ways to keep your devices safe and secure while working remotely is with a virtual private network (VPN) from Computerware. A VPN is basically like a secured network which only approved team members can access. You won’t have to worry about anyone watching your network or hatching a nasty malware plot against your company’s devices or applications.

With powerful security solutions from Computerware, like managed updates, patches, and a VPN, your remote workers won’t have anything to fear from unknown threats on WiFi connections. For more information on how Computerware can simplify the way you do business, give us a call at (703) 821-8200.