What Exactly is a VPN?

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A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a network set up to communicate privately over a public network. For example: You occasionally want to or need to work from home and your employer knows that if you do, the data that travels between your PC and an office PC needs to be protected. So your employer installs a program on his server and you install one on your computer that allows your computer to connect to the work computers privately.

Another example is remote access VPN tools. Whether you’re a road warrior or simply own multiple PCs and want access to all your data from anywhere, there are a few easy ways to do it. A quick search on “remote access” pulls up numerous options. But many of these programs are a little slow and sometimes clunky.

Most of these VPN tools have their own version of encryption. But when surfing the web on your local computer on a free, unprotected public network in a hotel, airport or coffee shop, your data is vulnerable to “sniffers.” That’s where another form of VPN comes in to protect your data between your laptop, iPad, iPhone or Android and an internet gateway. This kind of VPN creates an impenetrable tunnel to prevent snoopers, hackers and ISPs from viewing your web-browsing activities, instant messages, downloads, credit card information or anything else you send over the network.

Hotspot Shield VPN is a great option that protects your entire web surfing session, securing your connection at both your home Internet network and public internet networks (both wired and wireless). Hotspot Shield’s free proxy protects your identity by ensuring that all web transactions (shopping, filling out forms, downloads, etc.) are secured through HTTPS—the protected internet protocol.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield VPN. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen   See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

Steps to Take When Connecting to WiFi at the Coffee Shop

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Consumers are oblivious to the dangers of connecting in a free wireless environment. If they actually knew how vulnerable they are, all that coffee shops would do is sell coffee.Nobody would stick around and connect to the internet.

Everyone—and I mean everyone—always asks me if they should connect to public WiFi. The short answer is yes, but you need to install virtual private network software to encrypt your connection. More on that in a bit.

There’s plenty to know and a few things you can do to protect yourself. Here are some terms you should know:

Router encryption: The router you hop onto at the coffee shop will most likely have no encryption at all. Encryption is the process of encoding messages or information in such a way that eavesdroppers or hackers cannot read them, but that authorized parties can. Routers are built with software options to turn on encryption, but the coffee shop typically doesn’t turn it on because that would mean every person coming in would need a password. And even in that scenario, that doesn’t necessarily mean your data will be secure.

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption: WEP is 15 years old and offers minimal security; WiFi Protected Access (WPA) encryption is better than its predecessor, WEP. WPA is a certification program that was created in response to several serious weaknesses researchers found in WEP. WPA and WPA2 (a subsequent version) are tougher to crack, but not impossible.

Protect yourself when using WiFi:

  • Use the most updated and secure version of your browser.
  • Consider only sharing data with sites with HTTPS in the address bar; the S signifies that the website itself is encrypted.
  • Turn off file sharing. If you share files at home, turn file sharing off in public.
  • Turn on your firewall. It should be on by default, but depending on the age of your computers or by accident, it could be off.
  • Use a VPN. AVirtual Private Network (VPN) is a network set up with encryption to protect your data from unauthorized access.Hotspot Shield VPN is a good one to use. It’s secure, free to you (supported by ads) and available for PC, Mac, iPhone and Android.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield VPN. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen.  See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

10 Tips for a Safe and Secure Spring Break

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Spring has arrived, and students are gearing up to head to warmer climes and tear it up on spring break. Coming from a dad who a) tore it up a bit at that age himself and b) lives and breathes safety/security, I have a few tips—from low tech to high tech– to keep teens and twentysomethings from getting into trouble, becoming victimsorhaving their identity stolen, which—believe-me—will put a real damper on a vacation.

#1 Don’t be stupid. I know this is easier said than done. Anyone who plans a spring break trip which involves partying amongst thousands of other teens is actually planning on getting stupid. That’s not a successful plan. Make smart choices and be careful.

#2 Eat. You’re probably going to be consuming alcohol. Eat and eat often. Alcohol is poisonous; food absorbs the poison and can helpprevent you from getting sick or too intoxicated (in-toxic-ated).

#3 Moderation. Everything in moderation, including alcohol. Negative side effects of too much alcohol can mean bad hangovers or even death.

#4 Cover your drink. There are lots of idiots who think it’s fun and funny to drug people by slipping drugs into drinks. Get your own drink and cover it up with your hand or a napkin.

#5 Use the buddy system. Never leave a friend alone, especially if he or she is inebriated.

#6 Use a designated driver. Seriously. Or cab it.

#7 Watch out for aggressive people. It is a sad fact that too much alcohol makes men get aggressive and women sometimes become vulnerable. Beware of this and don’t become a Spring Break statistic.

#8 Protect your wallet. Cash, credit cards, IDs, etc. should go in your front pocket. Have a photocopy of everything accessible online.

#9 Locate/Lost/Wipe. Install software to locate or wipe a lost mobile device, and make sure it’s password protected.

#10 WiFi security. Whether on a mobile, tablet or laptop, you’re going to be connected to the internet at some point. And just like there are predators out there waiting for you to slip up so they can take advantage of you, there are criminal hackers looking to swipe your wireless data and access your accounts to steal your identity. Download Hotspot Shield VPN for your iOS, Android, PC and Mac to encrypt all your wireless internet traffic.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield VPN. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

6 Ways You Are Vulnerable On Wi-Fi

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Whether you are on your home or office network or seeking out a free connection on public Wi-Fi, there are known risks that can be managed simply by using a free VPN.

#1. Outdated operating system-critical security patches. When an operating system is released, it often is secure—or at least as it can be for the moment. But once good-guy and bad-guy hackers take a look at it en masse, they discover vulnerabilities. When on an unprotected network, criminals can use software programs that search out vulnerabilities from outdated, unpatched software on your devices; once found, they use whatever tools are available to take advantage of those vulnerabilities and dig deeper into your devices.

#2. Unsecured wireless. Unencrypted Wi-Fi networks at home or in the office, or on the road at coffee shops, airports and hotels, are vulnerable to sniffers. Sniffers read the wireless data as it travels through the air and converts it so other computers (and those who administer them) can read it in words, numbers and computer code.

#3. Poorly secured wireless. Protected Wi-Fi that employs WEP, or Wired Equivalent Privacy, is vulnerable. WEP, introduced in 1997, is the original version of wireless network security. Over the past decade and a half, however, WEP has been cracked, hacked and decimated.

#4. Sharing network passphrases. You might share a wireless connection with people you trust. Perhaps you have roommates, or you live in a condo or apartment and like your neighbor so much that you give her your passphrase so she can hop on your wireless internet. But by doing this—and no matter how nice your network-sharing friends may be—you are letting other devices scoot by the encryption your router employs.

#5. Hijacked cookies.Session hijacking is when you log onto a website and your login data is stored via a cookie—a small bit of code that lets the website know you are logged in. If HTTPS isn’t used and these cookies aren’t encrypted—which, often, they are not—an attacker can copy that cookie onto his or her device and surf on that device just as though it were yours. You’ve been hijacked!

#6. Man-in-the-middle attack. When you are on an unprotected network and another device intercepts or eavesdrops on your internet communications, then communicates with the designated website acting as though it is you, the other device communicates with the website—and the website has no idea it is communicating with an attacker.

The easiest way to avoid all this drama is by protecting your devices’ wireless communications witha free VPN likeHotspot Shield. Hotspot Shield VPN protects your entire web surfing session, enables private browsing while securing your connection at both your home internet network and publicInternetnetworks.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft expert consultant to Hotspot Shield VPN. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

TJX Identity Theft Costs Another 10 million, Protect Yourself from WarDriving

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

Most people are familiar with the TJX data breach, in which 45 million credit card numbers were stolen. TJX recently agreed to pay $9.75 million to 41 states to settle an investigation of the massive data breach. According to some reports, TJX has spent up to $256 million attempting to fix the problem that led to the breach.

It’s been said repeatedly that the criminal hackers responsible for the breach were sitting in a car outside a store when they stumbled across a vulnerable, unprotected wireless network using a laptop, a telescope antenna, and an 802.11 wireless LAN adapter. This process is called “Wardriving.”

WiFi is everywhere. Whether you travel for business or simply need Internet access while out and about, your options are plentiful. You can sign on at airports, hotels, coffee shops, fast food restaurants, and now, airplanes. What are your risk factors when accessing wireless? There are plenty. WiFi wasn’t born to be secure. It was born to be convenient. As more sensitive data has been wirelessly transmitted over the years, the need for security has evolved. Today, with criminal hackers as sophisticated as they ever have been, wireless communications are at an even higher risk.

When setting up a wireless router, there are two different security techniques you can use. WiFi Protected Access is a certification program that was created in response to several serious weaknesses researchers had found in the previous system, Wired Equivalent Privacy. Wired Equivalent Privacy was introduced in 1997 and is the original form of wireless network security. Wireless networks broadcast messages using radio and are thus more susceptible to eavesdropping than wired networks.

It’s one thing to access your own wireless connection from your home or office. It entirely another story when accessing someone else’s unprotected network. Setting up a secure WiFi connection will protect the data on your network, for the most part, but if you’re on someone else’s network, secured or unsecured, your data is at risk. Anyone using an open network risks exposing their data. There are many ways to see who’s connected on a wireless connection, and gain access to their data.

There are a few things you should do to protect yourself while using wireless. Be smart about what kind of data you transmit on a public wireless connection. There’s no need to make critical transactions while sipping that macchiato.

Don’t store critical data on a device used outside the secure network. I have a laptop and an iPhone. If they are hacked, there’s nothing on either device that would compromise me.

Install Hotspot Shield. A free ad supported program, Hotspot Shield protects your entire web surfing session by securing your connection, whether you’re at home or in public, using wired or wireless Internet. Hotspot Shield does this by ensuring that all web transactions are secured through HTTPS. They also offer an iPhone application. There are fee based programs, including Publicvpn.com and HotSpotVPN, which can create a secure “tunnel” between a computer and the site’s server.

Turn off WiFi and blue tooth on your laptop or cell phone when you’re not using them. An unattended device emitting wireless signals is very appealing to a criminal hacker.

Beware of free WiFi connections. Anywhere you see a broadcast for “Free WiFi,” consider it a red flag. It’s likely that free WiFi is meant to act as bait.

Beware of evil twins. These are connections that appear legitimate but are actually traps set to snare anyone who connects.

Keep your antivirus and operating system updated. Make sure your anti-virus is automatically updated and your operating systems critical security patches are up to date.

Invest in Intelius Identity Protect. Because when all else fails you’ll have someone watching your back. Includes a Free Credit Report, SSN monitoring, Credit & Debit Card monitoring, Bank Account monitoring, Email fraud alerts, Public Records Monitoring, Customizable “Watch List”, $25,000 in ID theft insurance, Junk Mail OptOut and Credit Card Offer OptOut.

Robert Siciliano identity theft speaker discussing criminal wireless hack