With Cyber Monday bringing in record sales for online companies, it was shocking to see just how many of those customers were using public wifi (a wireless connection without the protection of a password). Unbound Commerce reported that total revenue generated by retailers utilizing Unbound’s integrated mcommerce platform surged 410% on Cyber Monday. Suggesting that those numbers were purchases from smart phones, most people are blissfully unaware of the amount of hacking that is done through public wifi. We now live in a world where it is all too easy for hackers to track cookies of any given user to see email correspondence, Facebook passwords, and yes, bill pay logins, ultimately resulting to identity theft.
Business owners at Risk for Identity Theft
Consumers are not the only ones at risk for online identity theft. Business owners are particularly vulnerable when they have remote employees using public wifi. Private documents, financial statements and inventory statuses are all at risk when a company or its employees us unprotected wifi.
Mashable.com, one of the Internet’s best resources for techy advice, urges users to use a VPN when they’re planning on connecting to public wifi, “VPNs create a private tunnel through the public network, protecting the user from any prying eyes (or packet sniffers) on his way from destination to destination online.”
VPN is the Answer for Eliminating Public Wifi
It’s scary to think you could have eyes watching your every move online. Whether you’re trying to buy your daughter a Christmas gift, paying your car insurance or taking payment from a customer, there’s no doubt that everyone should consider VPN (Virtual Private Networks) when carrying out sensitive and important information on their computers or smart phones. VPN could be the difference of a happy and safe Internet experience and a lengthy identity theft battle with someone who wants your information.
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