Use properly Wi-Fi on your smartphone! You might not know this, but Wi-Fi can risk your privacy and cybersecurity more than you can imagine… We live in a digital era where being connected is something we do everyday, mostly using Wi-Fi on our mobile phones. However, there’s a common thing we do that can expose our devices to invisible threats compromising our personal data: leaving Wi-Fi active all the time.
Connecting to a router seems so simple, but it’s a digital risk more relevant each day and something must be done about it. That’s why we are going to tell you all about it and how you can avoid being a victim of these threats. So, let’s get started!
Wi-Fi on your mobile phone
We’re always told to be safe on the internet and to use strong passwords and antivirus, but what about Wi-Fi? This might seem as nothing to be worried about, but that’s totally wrong… We are so used to connecting to a Wi-Fi network that we don’t even think about how it works or if it has any risks, but it does.
It’s common to leave the Wi-Fi active all the time on our smartphones, even when we are not using them. However, it will still be working in the background and it will be gathering information, searching for network signals and connecting to different wireless sources. All of this will be happening without us even noticing it.
Leaving it active? You’d better not…
We have become lazier due to the technological advances surrounding us, that’s why we leave the Wi-Fi active when we go out because this way our smartphone will automatically connect to a Wi-Fi network when it is near one. This is a bad idea since we can connect to a public network like the ones at cafés, airports, malls, etc., which couldn’t be safe. Something that may happen is that these networks are fake and hackers use them to track information used to connect to this network.
Networks history, another threat
Our devices keep a history of the Wi-Fi networks we have been connected to before and the name of them could be used by hackers to track your moves. How? Because they will know where you normally connect to a network, therefore, where you are.
It’s also important to know that some devices like Android smartphones or Windows computers, can automatically connect to known networks without asking. This strengthens the risk of being connected to a public network without noticing it.
Tips to protect your cybersecurity
Many experts warn about taking action to reduce the risk of being tracked. According to Xataka’s article, it is suggested that we turn off the Wi-Fi when we leave home and use our mobile data connection to avoid being connected to unsafe networks.
Another useful tip is to frequently check the list of Wi-Fi networks saved on our devices and remove or ‘’forget’’ those we don’t use anymore.
Apps
Last, but not least, we should check which apps have access to our location via Bluetooth, apart from via Wi-Fi or GPS, because we might not know this. That’s why it is recommended to check apps permissions and limit the access to our location if it’s not strictly necessary.
As you can see, our privacy and cybersecurity are in danger when we are connected to a network we are not familiar with and can have negative consequences. You might think that you have done it many times and nothing has happened, until it happens. So, the best thing to do is follow traditional wisdom: ‘’better safe than sorry’’. With a simple gesture we can make a difference, thus turn off your Wi-Fi if you don’t need it! No more worries if you start doing this.