Make Your WiFi Connection Available For Free. Be Neighbourly!
You should ensure your home Wi-Fi has no password so your neighbors can use it.
If you have doubts about the public benefits of sharing your Wi-Fi and need arguments to get convinced, here are three videos of people presenting their arguments to inconsiderate neighbors who, without previous notice, decided to add a password to their home Wi-Fi.
A two-minute video explaining the ecological advantages of sharing your Wi-Fi signal :
A six-minute video describing the right of free usage of Wi-Fi 'coming out of the walls' :
A three-minute video of a next-door neighbor explaining... something:
Amazingly, some people do not have their Wi-Fi network password-protected.
And it is equally amazing to learn that some people use 'free' Wi-Fi' without realizing the danger it represents.
To ensure everyone understands the dangers, we explain the consequences of opening your Wi-Fi network to strangers and the risks of using public Wi-Fi in the next two sections.
The Risk Of An Unprotected Home Wi-Fi Network
As a minimum, a strong password should protect your Wi-Fi network because:
- A home Wi-Fi not protected by any password can be used by anyone.
- A home Wi-Fi protected by a weak password can be hacked by anyone who wants to. There are hundreds of password crackers available online.
In addition, there are other steps you can take to secure your home network and avoid the risks and dangers we describe next.
Having an unprotected home Wi-Fi network has several soft but unwanted consequences, such as:
Unauthorized Access: Without a password, anyone within the range of your Wi-Fi signal can connect to your network. This means neighbors or passersby people.
In addition, there are disruptive consequences to unknowingly sharing your Wi-Fi connection, like:
Network Abuse: Unauthorized users can consume your bandwidth, leading to slower internet speeds for your devices. As described by those people in the video whose Wi-Fi was used by the neighbors, it can be frustrating and impact the performance of your online activities. Especially if, for example, your neighbor is a streamer, which is an activity that consumes a considerable amount of bandwidth.
But worst, sharing your Wi-Fi can have some more serious consequences, like:
Privacy Invasion: Intruders on your open Wi-Fi network may gain access to your connected devices, compromising your privacy. This includes accessing personal files, photos, and other sensitive information stored on your devices.
The three uninvited Wi-Fi guests from the videos seem quite harmless, but this is not always the case. And there is a high chance that those nice neighbors who freely share their Wi-Fi have personal information disclosed to some more tech-savvy neighbors.
Illegal Activities: If someone uses your open Wi-Fi network for illegal activities, such as downloading copyrighted material or engaging in cyberattacks, authorities may trace these activities back to your network, potentially leading to legal consequences for you.
The authorities will have evidence that illegal activities can be tracked to your home router IP address. Now, try to prove to the authorities that it was not you who was performing illegal activities.
Not to speak about the risks of having technical savvy neighbors who can take full advantage of the 'free' Wi-Fi to conduct dubious activities, like:
Data Interception: Open Wi-Fi networks make it easier for cybercriminals to intercept and monitor the data transmitted between your devices and the internet. This can lead to the theft of sensitive information such as login credentials, personal messages, or financial data.
Infection of Devices: An open Wi-Fi network increases the risk of malware and viruses entering your devices. Malicious actors can exploit vulnerabilities in unprotected networks to inject malware into connected devices, compromising their security.
Those who share their wi-fi for free and have security cameras should check if they also share their private life on the net.
The Risk Of Using a Public Wi-Fi
On the other hand, we have those who happily use public Wi-Fi connections without any protection, like a VPN.
Sooner or later, their devices will be compromised, leading to personal or financial loss.
Data Interception (Man-in-the-Middle Attacks): Public Wi-Fi networks are susceptible to man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks. In this attack, a malicious actor intercepts and monitors the communication between your device and the network. This can lead to the theft of sensitive information, such as login credentials, financial details, or personal messages.
Maybe that nice neighbor who shares the Wi-Fi for free is a hacker and hacks the devices of anyone connecting to the 'free' Wi-Fi.
Eavesdropping: On open public Wi-Fi networks, it's easier for nearby individuals to eavesdrop on your internet traffic. The data transmitted between your device and the network can be captured and exploited without proper encryption.
Be very careful when using public Wi-Fi networks, especially without a VPN. Because it is not 'if' you will be hacked; it is 'when' you will be hacked. Because the hack will eventually happen.
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If your home network is unprotected or if you use public Wi-Fi networks without a VPN, sooner or later:
- A hacker will steal the password to your email accounts and use any sensitive information to take advantage of you.
- A hacker will inject malware to get access to your computer, record your hot wallet passwords, and use it to reveal your wallet seed phrases. And your crypto assets will be gone in no time.
- If you are a content creator on YouTube, Medium, or any Web2.5 or Web3 platform, it may well happen that a malicious person steals your access credentials, locks you out, and takes advantage of that brand that has taken you so much effort to build.
- Or a hacker can get access to your computer, install malware, monitor all your activities over time, record private information, and sell it to the best bidder on the dark web.
Please be aware of the dangers and take preventive actions to protect yourself from unauthorized access to your home network or personal devices.
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Congratulations on completing this 5-minute digital safety power-up.
We hope this 5 minutes read was worth the time and that you have learned some valuable information.
