Walk into any Starbucks and you’ll see a familiar sight; people glued to their laptops or smartphones. Starbucks offers free Wi-Fi, making it a great place to study or just kill some time browsing the web. After all, a good caffeine buzz can help get you through writing that term paper or finally answering all those emails sitting in your inbox. While Starbuck’s free public Wi-fi is convenient, is it actually safe?
In short, the answer to “Is Starbucks Wi-Fi safe” is “no”.
It’s not just Starbuck’s Wi-Fi that is considered to be unsafe, using any public Wi-Fi can put you at risk for hacking, malware, and identity theft. The main reason for this is how open these public networks are. There are either very little (or no) authentication steps required to connect. Anyone with any device capable of connecting online can freely establish a connection.
The other big reason that public Wi-Fi spots are unsafe, is the lack of any encryption. The purpose of encryption is to protect data as it travels from point A to B. It does this by scrambling the data, so that if it is intercepted, it cannot be read or accessed. The absence of any encryption means that any data flowing through the web can be intercepted, read, and accessed. So for instance, if you are using Starbuck’s Wi-Fi to online shop, and you enter your credit card information, this info can be read as it is traveling from your device to the store’s server.
On public Wi-Fi networks, hackers can also set themselves so that they appear to be the connection point, or place themselves in between you and the real Wi-Fi connection point. In these cases, instead of being directly connected to the coffee shop’s Wi-Fi set-up, your information is actually being routed through the hacker’s set up.
This allows them to see everything you are doing online, and collect the information going through the web. Malware can also be distributed through unsecured networks. Be careful when downloading anything when using public Wi-Fi. Also, make sure that any software updates and upgrades are coming from the software itself, and not from a website’s pop up notification.
How VPNs Can Protect Public Wi-Fi at Starbucks:
After reading the above, you may be considering avoiding public Wi-Fi altogether. But you don’t have to ditch your favorite Starbucks. There are easy ways to protect yourself from malware, hacking, and identity theft even on open public Wi-Fi networks. The easiest and most effective to do this is with a VPN.
While many people may think of VPNs as something used to download torrent files and mask IP addresses, that is only part of what VPNs can do. In addition to helping you conceal your personal IP info online, a VPN will provide a secure and encrypted online connection for your entire device. That means that it will not only protect while you browse online, but also will protect you while you use apps or software programs that access the web.
Even grocery stores are offering Wi-Fi nowadays. So if you are out and you want to check your Facebook or the latest on Twitter, there’s always an easy way to get connected. You may be wondering “what about mobile devices?” After all, you probably take that phone everywhere you go. VPNs actually work with mobile devices the same way they work with computers. A VPN provide that same level of security and privacy you get on your computer to your mobile device!
The number of places offering free public Wi-Fi will only grow. Unfortunately, that also means the number of hackers attempting to take advantage of unsuspecting users on these open networks will also grow. Luckily it’s pretty easy to protect yourself simply by using a VPN on any device you are connecting to the web!
Best VPNs to Use at Starbucks?
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| Visit VPN Provider | Visit TorGuard | Visit PIA |
