![]() ![]() You need to download and install the application before you can use it. Hotspot Shield is a VPN application that protects data from your PC to the Internet over wireless connections. I have recently started using a free product called Hotspot Shield from AnchorFree. Without a work provided VPN and without configuring wireless security, what options do you have? This could take the place of using a VPN because you are encrypting the data that is being sent from your PC to the WAP/router. If you have ever visited a friend or relative and needed them to ‘get you on their network’ or had to configure your wireless network card with a network name, security type, and password, then you are familiar with the idea of taking steps to protect the data that you are wirelessly transmitting over the open air. If your company does not provide you a VPN that you can use, or if you are using your personal laptop and/or do not want to funnel your browsing traffic through your work – using a work VPN will allow your employer to see what you are up to when using their gateway – you need to come up with something else to protect yourself with. ![]() ![]() This encrypts, or scrambles, the plain text data you type on your keyboard and makes it extremely difficult to capture and decrypt by someone trying to steal your information. Some companies provide a VPN application installed on your laptop or a secure website that you can browse to as soon as you get an internet connection to create a safe and encrypted Internet session. A VPN is essentially a private and encrypted connection between your PC and the Internet gateway that is handling your web traffic. These days, most people should have a secure way to browse the Internet via these free access points through a work provided Virtual Private Network, or VPN. Rest assured, for we are here to help with that! As you can see, without taking proper steps, that free wireless access at McDonald’s can have dire consequences. This goes for just about anything that you type and submit into a web form – banking login information, credit card numbers (with your expiration date and security code), ID’s and passwords. So when you type in your email account name and password while sitting at the library, anyone else in there with free and easy to use tools can capture and save your information for later use. ![]() The openness of these networks mean that whatever data you transmit from your laptop to the Internet is openly obtainable and viewable by anyone else within the vicinity and connected to the very same free WAP that you are connected to. While this is good from an ease of use standpoint, the tradeoff leaves a very insecure and open network that you must be aware of. This makes it possible for just about anyone to connect successfully without having to distract a store employee with troubleshooting questions. The places that offer free wireless access usually configure a wide open access point with very little security to ensure that most people can connect with the least amount of configuration on their laptops. Free WAPs that you find out in public generally do not include enough security to protect the data you send from your laptop to the access point itself. However, these free WAPs come with a price in the form of security. Whether at the airport, hotel, library, coffee shop, or even finding a neighbor that has not secured his home wireless network, you do not have to travel very far to quickly hop on to the information superhighway. Free wireless access points (WAPs) are a very welcome convenience for our mobile lives. ![]()
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