Hi I'm currently in Spain for 3 months and all the local WI-Fi hotspots are listed as unsecured. I'm currently using the latest version of NIS 2011 Ver 18.5.0.125 on a laptop top running Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit Edition how can I connect to the net but remain safe on line if the connection isn't secure?
That's hard, because all traffic in and out your computer is readable by someone who taps your connection.
What you must do :
- Keep Norton up to date always, so it can protect you from attacks.
- If you use Windows Vista or 7, define the Wifi spots' network as a Public Network in Windows, when asked, so the network is defined as 'Not trusted' and your computer will not make the shared data available on that network.
Hi easygeeze,
When you connect to an unsecured wifi network, Norton Security Map automatically configures the network Trust Level as "Protected" which prevents access to your PC from others on the network. The thing you have to worry about is your internet traffic which will be broadcast in the clear. Using SSL encrypted sites (https://) helps, but often such sites merely encrypt your login and once you are on the site itself the encryption is removed, and everything, such as your email messages, is plainly readable by others. So be alert to this. Most recommedations are to avoid doing anything online that absolutely must remain private. In other words, find other ways to check email and to do banking transactions.
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