Networks and Wi-Fi
Working on public Wi-Fi safely
Hotel lobbies, airports and coffee shops are part of working life. Public Wi-Fi is safer than it used to be, but a few habits still matter.
1 min readChecklist
The short version
Hotel, airport and coffee shop Wi-Fi is mostly safe for modern websites, with a few important exceptions.
What has improved
Most websites and services, including Microsoft 365, now encrypt everything between your device and them. On a public network, other people can see that you are connected, but not what you are reading or typing.
What still matters
- Make sure the network is real. Ask staff for the exact network name. Attackers sometimes set up networks named like the venue’s.
- Be wary of sign-in pages that ask for more than they should. A hotel Wi-Fi page may ask for a room number. It should never ask for your work email password.
- Use your phone’s hotspot for anything sensitive, such as banking or administrator work. It is your own private network.
- Use your business’s secure remote access if you need office systems.
- Turn off file sharing and set the network as public when your computer asks.
- Lock your screen whenever you step away, and watch who can see it.
Never
- Approve a sign-in prompt or enter a code you did not expect.
- Install software or a “security certificate” a Wi-Fi page asks you to.
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