Naked on the Bus

The less catchy title of this blog is “DON’T USE OPEN PUBLIC WIFI!!!” Doing so may expose you, quite literally, to the world. I am the mother of a teenager– a really smart teenager who is proficient at Snapchat®, Instagram®, WhatsApp® and a host of other applications (Facebook® of course has been left for we older folks). I vainly tried to explain the dangers of open wi-fi to this smart person a few days ago, to be met with an eye roll and a “c’mon mom, it’s no big deal. Free wi-fi is everywhere if it weren’t safe I would know”. [maxbutton id=”1″ ] Well, dear reader and dear daughter, it is indeed true that open wi-fi (i.e. wifi that you don’t need a password to access) is EVERYWHERE, and this is likely why the many warnings of danger have been so ignored. We love our free wi-fi, and the free public wi-fi has been a magnet for business for every café and coffee shop around. But the dangers ARE real. And if your phone is set (as many are) to automatically connect to available wi-fi, you are literally walking naked down the aisle of a big bus, in full view of every person you pass. Now that I have your attention, let’s…