Stay secure in WiFi hotspots

FORT LAUDERDALE — After someone sniffed out his password at a free WiFi hotspot and successfully hacked his computer, Igor Mello stays home for the majority of his Web use. • "I trust my network more than anyone else's," said Mello, of Plantation, who had several social media sites compromised in the break-in.

Internet users should always protect themselves and their computers while surfing on WiFi networks, experts say.

"It's like putting a lock on your door of your house. That's not going to stop a determined bad guy, but it's going to keep the wandering neighbor from making use of your Internet connection without your knowledge," said Eric Johnson, a computer security expert at Florida International University.

Home users can employ security measures available in their WiFi routers and access points such as WiFi Protected Access versions 1 and 2, said Johnson, who is systems and networking manager for FIU's School of Computing and Information Sciences.

WPA and WPA 2 encryption is built into any hardware that is branded "WiFi Certified," a seal given to products authorized by the WiFi Alliance, a nonprofit consortium of technology companies.

This type of security protects home networks by securing data between the access point and the computer with government-grade encryption, according to the organization's website. WPA 2 will also randomly generate a secure password for the network and can be activated in the router or access point's settings.

Mello secures his home network using WPA 2 encryption and even then limits access to important sites like online banking to his cellular phone application, which transmits data over his mobile carrier's network, something that is much harder to penetrate.

Earlier this year, Google Street View vehicles unintentionally captured small bits of information that is transmitted over a WiFi network, such as website information or even passwords from open WiFi access points, as they drove through cities and neighborhoods taking pictures for the street-level view feature of Google Maps.

"We will typically have collected only fragments of payload data because our cars are on the move; someone would need to be using the network as a car passed by," Google said in its company blog.

This seizure of information has sparked investigations by governing bodies worldwide, including Germany and the United States. Recently, Connecticut's attorney general launched an investigation of the incident and has drawn up the support of 37 other states.

Leaving default security settings on in a home wireless router is not a good idea.

Elias Montoya, technology director for Abadin Cook, a Miami-based law firm, said users should make sure to stick to a strong password, such as the WPA 2-generated password, which mixes characters, numbers and letters rather than choosing something predictable like their home phone number or leaving the default password.

"The (WiFi) user should be in the mind-set that nothing is 100 percent secure. . . . If someone is intent on hacking you, they will," Montoya said.

WiFi use in public places, such as coffee shops, is becoming increasingly popular, but these networks are typically wide open, Johnson said.

He said people should stay away from doing anything that they would not want to be seen, such as online banking.