How to Safely Use the Wi-Fi on the NYC Subway

Now that every NYC subway station has free public Wi-Fi access, millions of people are now able to surf the Web, work, or stream content as they commute to work — without worrying about their data usage. While this is a great accomplishment for the NYC subway system — a feature that many other subways worldwide have had for years — it also brings some risks. Malicious individuals may use the public Wi-Fi access to steal information from other users, install viruses, or even hack into others’ devices.

If you’re worried about using the Wi-Fi now, fear not: as long as you take the proper precautions, it can be safe to use free public Wi-Fi. Use DFNDR’s Wi-Fi Check feature to evaluate the security of your Wi-Fi network, and check your connectivity and download speed. This feature will notify you of any security threats, such as a change in DNS settings or network vulnerabilities. You can also use this feature to check the security and speed of your home network, too. Click here to check your Wi-Fi now:

In addition to checking the security of your Wi-Fi network, make sure to run regular virus scans on your device. Running regular virus scans while you’re on public and home Wi-Fi networks, in addition to keeping applications up to date, will certainly do a lot of good in keeping you safe. This will allow your mobile device to be monitored for threats on both your device’s storage and your SD card. Click here to run a full virus scan on your device:

Protect Your Data on Public Wi-Fi

Despite your ability to run virus scans and check the security of your Wi-Fi network, you may want to limit your online activity on public networks. It’s a good idea to not type in any sensitive information while using public Wi-Fi. This includes typing in your credit card information, accessing your emails, typing in any account information (passwords and usernames), etc. If you want to check your email or log on to your banking app, do so when you’re using cellular data and not a public network. That way, any malicious individuals who are on the same network will not be able to steal your private information.

Further, consider using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) app that will encrypt your connection to the network so that hackers cannot access your data, even if they’re connected to the same network.