Essential Digital Skills Level 1

111 videos, 7 hours and 55 minutes

Course Content

Public Wifi

Video 94 of 111
2 min 34 sec
English
English
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One way of connecting to the internet, if you are out and about, is using a public Wi-Fi. Now, this could be in something like a cafe or a restaurant or in a building, libraries, things like that. There is lots of different places now have Wi-Fi. It is quite good for their business because they are trying to encourage people to come in so they can connect to the internet very easily. Now, this is a good way of accessing the internet, but you have got to be aware of potential problems. It may well be, you go to a reputable source, but you are actually connecting to the internet at that source, but maybe the actual name of the internet is slightly different because someone else has set up another fake Wi-Fi network. And what they are trying to do is get you to access the internet through their network, because they can actually plant malware software onto your computer or your device, which can then access the information or read what you are typing.

So for example, if you have this malware on your computer and you access your bank, even if you do it from a reputable source at home, something like that, the person who has put the software on can be told what keystrokes you are touching, so actually they can then access your bank account and things like that. Other ways that they may well try and access your information through public Wi-Fi is to have a pop-up message that might appear on your screen and it might just say, "Please enter your password again," or something like that. Be very cautious of things like that when you are using public Wi-Fi services. It should be that the signal strength is good where you are, if there is any problems with the internet or any things you are concerned about or any pop-ups or any messages or anything like that, then just be cautious. Always know how to turn your internet off just in case you are worried.

So it is very simple to turn the internet off on any device. If you are worried, just disconnect from that network and forget about that one, just hit the delete button. Now, there is also things you need to do to be careful in a public place is make sure that no one is looking over your shoulder or to the side. So when you are entering passwords or sensitive information, be very careful, but also in a public setting, be cautious of what websites you are going on to. It is maybe not the best idea on a public network to be accessing your bank, financial informations, even accessing things like social media can be a risk because someone could quite easily get on to your accounts, change the passwords over an email and the next thing you know, you have lost your accounts. So be very cautious of what you are doing in any public place.

Learning Outcomes:
  • EDSQ Unit 5 LO 15.2