The Pros and Cons of Public Wi-Fi
People who need to get online in hotels, airports, and cafés often use public WiFi. But joining these networks can be very risky, especially for people who own bitcoins. Cybercriminals use a “evil twin” attack to trick people into joining fake networks that look like real hotspots.
What Are Attacks by Evil Twins?
Hackers use an evil twin attack to set up a network that looks a lot like the WiFi of a site you trust. Once people connect to this fake network, attackers can watch what they do online and steal their private information. These attacks happen more often in places with a lot of people, like airports and coffee shops, where a lot of people are looking for free WiFi. When people use cryptocurrency, they put themselves in a lot of danger when they go to exchanges or log into sensitive accounts on these illegal networks.
Things you can do to keep your crypto safe
Be careful and don’t do risky transactions on public WiFi to keep your crypto safe. Experts say you shouldn’t type in your login information or seed phrases on these networks. Instead, type in the URLs of exchanges directly, use bookmarks for sites you trust, and ask people who work at the venue to make sure the network is real.
Use a VPN you can trust and turn off the auto-connect features on your devices to be even safer. You might also want to think about managing your crypto holdings in layers. To be extra safe, keep your most important things offline and only carry a small amount of money in your travel wallets.
