Recently there have been reports of wi-fi hacking ( nbc news account in sochi ) in Europe.
Has anyone actually had a problem whe using a phone, tablet or pc in europe where their security has been compromised?
Posted by
Ottawa
1446 posts
Just in the last year or so, I've been using wi-fi with my notebook in: France, Ireland, the UK, Austria, Germany and Italy.
Also in Russia, over the course of 2 weeks in 2012.
In B&Bs, hotels, apartments, restaurants and airports - no problem anywhere yet... knock on wood.
Just as I would never send my credit card info by e-mail, I also avoid logging into any of my accounts that involve money when I'm not at home -- and that goes for everywhere!
Frankly, with such a highly mediatized event as the Sochi Olympics, I'm not surprised.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23267 posts
The security concerns are exactly the same as in the US. Possible but not likely. And the direct answer to your question is NO!
Posted by
Seattle, WA, US
1005 posts
For bank account or credit card transactions, stay away from Wi-Fi and use a smartphone app with a cellular connection. Here's what one security expert from Cisco says, "Most experts consider cellular networks such as 4G LTE to be inherently more secure than Wi-Fi. 'The surprising thing is that while cellular networks are more secure, people perceive Wi-Fi as being as good as or better than cellular,' said Stuart Taylor, director of the Internet Business Solutions Group at Cisco, which conducted the research. He said that Wi-Fi can be made more secure with passwords, but it is generally considered susceptible to sniffing and other attacks that aren’t as easy with a cellular connection." See http://www.cnmeonline.com/news/mobile-users-choose-wi-fi-over-cellular/
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9363 posts
I have used phone apps, banking apps, computer software, and wifi all over and never had a problem with any security. On the contrary, the problems I have had with security have occurred right here in the US.
Posted by
Fountain Valley, California
31 posts
Any wi-fi, Europe or USA has the insecurity of being "sniffed" by anyone within range. They could be in a hotel room a few floors away across the street or sitting next to you. This has been known for a number of years.
As one poster said. Don't do anything on wi-fi that uses sensitive passwords that you wouldn't want stolen. Don't make online purchases, log in to any financial accounts, etc. That's it!
But what if your DO need to log in to those things?
Then as another poster said, you can use a cellular connection which is much more encrypted and secure than wi-fi, but slower and more expensive.
But what if you DO need to log in to those things using wi-fi?
There are cheap solutions.
On our last trip, my wife and I used hotspotshield.
It's an inexpensive app you activate just after you connect to the wi-fi hotspot but BEFORE you log in to the sensitive account. It's known as a VPN or "tunnel" in the trade. It worked well for us.
Another company, vipervpn has more egress points internationally and a few extra features.