Pro tip: A coffee shop WiFi scare taught me a lesson about public networks

I was finishing up some banking at a coffee shop downtown last Saturday when my laptop flashed a warning about an unsecured connection. Turns out the shop's free WiFi had a fake login page that looked real, but I caught it before entering my password. Has anyone else had a close call with a public hotspot that made you change your habits?

4 comments

4 Comments

troychen3d ago

dude @johnson.river is spot on with that blind password thing. like seriously, how many people just auto-pilot through login screens? i swear i bet most folks dont even look at the URL half the time. but here's the thing that gets me - what makes you trust a coffee shop's wifi more than some random open network in a park? like is there actually a difference or is it just a false sense of security cause you bought a latte?

ray_sullivan3d ago

My buddy once logged into his bank on a "Starbucks Wi-Fi" that was actually a hotspot named "Starbacks.

abby_morgan183d ago

This is brutal but honestly I get how it happens. We're so used to clicking through stuff that our brains just shut off. The fact that someone can literally misspell a brand name and still trick people shows how easy it is to break that trust.

johnson.river3d ago

Used to be one of those people who thought "eh it's fine, what's the worst that could happen." Definitely not anymore after reading this though. Makes you wonder how many people just blindly type in their passwords.