Don’t forget to protect devices from data theft

It is holiday shopping season again, and consumers will join the rush to buy devices and accessories for loved ones. They’ll scoop up phones and tablets, plus cases, covers and bags to shield from scratches and bumps. But while they are protecting their devices from physical harm, most will leave their phone’s WiFi connection – and their private data – open to exposure.

Device cases and covers are extremely popular. Most people won’t own a phone or tablet for long without wrapping some kind of protection around it. Amazon.com’s “Cases and Covers” page contains a whopping 13 million items. And by the end of 2014, mobile phone aftermarket accessories are projected to generate $51 billion in total revenue, with protective cases the highest-selling item at $13 billion.*

But while people are doing a good job of protecting their devices from physical harm, they’re leaving a less obvious but even more important area wide open. Unsecured, unverified public WIFI hotspots open consumers up to exploitation by data thieves who can set up fake hotspots to spy on data traffic. According to a recent F-Secure survey two out of three people connect to public WIFI hotspots at least once a month. But according to Sean Sullivan, Security Advisor at F-Secure, most never take care to protect their connection from snoops, even though VPN apps that offer privacy on WIFI are readily available.

But isn’t setting up a fake hotspot difficult and too expensive to do? Not at all. For under 250 dollars (less than an iPad mini) a crook can purchase or cobble together a device that will imitate a legitimate WiFi hotspot. They can then spy on consumers’ data traffic and harvest usernames, passwords and other personal details. So while a fancy leather cover may protect that tablet if you drop it, it won’t do a thing for your personal data if you’re surfing a poisoned hotspot.

F-Secure Freedome protects users on public WiFi. Even if a hotspot is being spied on, it encrypts your data so no one can read it. In addition, Freedome protects from malware and from online tracking – a full security and privacy solution protecting the digital data that no fancy case or cover can secure.