Beware of Cybercriminals

Although its unlikely that nosy hotspot neighbors will put your privacy at risk, you should be on the alert for the most serious hotspot danger: a cybercriminal. These technically savvy hackers have the tools, skills, and patience to work around the limited protection measures some hotspot hosts take. For example, some cybercriminals have learned to use social engineering methods to con hotspot users into divulging sensitive information. By wi phishing, a cybercriminal can pre empt a hotspots wireless signal with one of his own, spoof the legitimate network name, and replace the sign up page with a look alike. Youll end up supplying your information to this evil twin, not the hotspot provider. Once youre on the spoofed hotspot, you may be redirected to other fraudulent or virus laden websites, or even be tricked into setting up a new account and providing credit card numbers or other identifying information.