Hotspotting Wi-Fi

Rather like the neighbors who apparently bought their routers and never read the instructions, a quick sniff for open networks shows us that many public wireless outlets need to wake up and smell more than just the coffee.

As for those free public hotspots, generally password-free with no encryption, hot is the word. Piping at that! There's always the chance that the smart-looking guy on the other side of the room bought that appearance using the credit card of the last occupant of your seat.

We can't rely on an outlet's encryption capabilities to safeguard online dataflow. Think packet sniffing and, at a hotspot, think evil twin.

When you're hot-spotting, many tips apply from the last section. Mostly though, apply your common sense and, if you can wait before doing something online, wait.

Hardening the firewall

An up-to-date laptop with anti-malware and a firewall remains a cornerstone of safety.

The firewall should now be set to block or alert you of all incoming traffic requests...