public Wi-Fi
2 articles with this tag
Securing a laptop you carry around — protecting against theft, loss, and shoulder-surfing
Carrying a laptop assumes you'll lose it or it'll be stolen. The main defense is setting it up so a loss doesn't leak the contents: disk encryption (BitLocker/FileVault), a strong login with a short auto-lock, and remote wipe/locate. With HTTPS everywhere, public-Wi-Fi sniffing is lower priority; the real threats are rogue APs, shoulder-surfing, and walking away. Don't over-trust a VPN — harden the device first.
The dangers of public Wi-Fi: fake access points and certificate warnings matter more than sniffing
Public-Wi-Fi 'sniffing' is mostly mitigated by HTTPS and is lower priority now. The real risks are (1) connecting to an evil-twin fake AP yourself, (2) ignoring certificate warnings, and (3) exposing your device on the shared network. The most effective measures are simple: use your phone's tethering, trust HTTPS and cert warnings, and don't auto-join unknown SSIDs. A VPN is the next layer.