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How protected is your tablet on Wi-Fi?

April 25, 2013 by Robert Siciliano — speaker, IDTheftSecurity.com

To understand how protected you are, you need to understand how unprotected free public wireless is.

This has nothing to do with how secure Apple devices are compared to Android. By default, free public wireless is open and unencrypted, and the data that travels over it from each device to the router is naked for all the world to see. This is true regardless of what anti-virus software you do or don't have on your tablet.

When you log onto free public Wi-Fi, whether at a hotel, airport or coffee shop, you may first have to read a terms and conditions statement and click "I Agree" before you can logon and connect. If you actually read the TC, you'd realize the organization providing you the free wireless is telling you point blank that its wireless is unsecure, your data is visible to the world and it is not responsible for your data being stolen.

On the other hand, if you are connecting to WiFi that employs WPA or WPA2 encryption, then your data is pretty tight ... but it's never 100 percent secure. For added security on WPA, add a private network such as Hotspot Shield VPN. Nobody, including your mother, can hack your wireless on a VPN.

The Hotspot Shield VPN is formatted for both iOS and Android platforms and has been downloaded more than 120 million times. A new version of the popular application includes:

Privacy protection for anonymous web communication, browsing and sharing online at dorms, cafés and offices;
Twenty percent greater mobile data savings capabilities, saving users up to $30 per month in mobile data fees;
The ability to access U.S. and U.K. TV and other services online by switching IP addresses — a must-have when traveling abroad;
A new user interface that makes it easier to view bandwidth savings and manage features.