Hot-Spot Hacking And How To Fight ItHot-Spot Hacking And How To Fight It

Protect Yourself

Some forms of protection for hotspot users have been widely discussed. For instance, one of the best defenses is use of a virtual private network (VPN), which encrypts data all the way from the laptop at the hotspot to your company's network. Even then, however, Rushing says that VPNs aren't always configured optimally.

In addition, a personal firewall on your laptop will help. That will prevent hackers from getting to data stored on the laptop's hard drive. But rushing also offered some additional tips to prevent being the victim of malicious activity.

"If you're going to sign up for a hotspot for the first time, don't sign up at the hotspot itself," he said. "Sign up at home from your desktop before you leave. That way, you're entering all your identity theft information (such as credit card numbers) where you're much more secure."

Also, be wary of things that pop up on your screen at a public hotspot.

"If a little window pops up, read it completely before you click OK," he cautions. "This is where a lot of malicious people are doing their manipulation. This is where viruses get installed."

Rushing also strongly urges hotspot users to only enter sensitive information on Web pages that are secure, as shown by an icon on the bottom right side of the page. He also suggests switching off your wireless adapter when not connected to the network. And, if the network isn't operating properly, it's safest to assume that it has been compromised and act accordingly. Typically, that means getting off the network and, again, disabling your wireless connection.

Rushing also said that so-called personal VPN services now being offered by third party vendors are quite useful. These low-cost services (click here for review) provide VPN security for individual users, encrypting data from the laptop to the VPN provider's own servers.

"It's interesting, though, that hotspots aren't providing the same (security) service (as the for-hire VPN services)," Rushing said. "I think they need two-tier service with better security being, say, an extra five dollars." Even at that, though, Rushing said that such products aren't a total solution.

"(Hackers) can't sniff data and for-hire VPNs don't protect against phishing," he noted, referring to a practice by hackers of pretending to be a legitimate hotspot.