Hotel Wi-Fi - Just Don't

Beware that hotel Wi-Fi connection. I can remember a time when I chose hotels based upon access to the Internet. I once held an cool part time job teaching computers on cruise ships. I can remember taking a class on a walking tour of cities in Alaska looking for an Internet connection. How far we have come, with Internet access available free or for a daily fee at most hotels and motels you might find in your travels. However, many of those Internet connections consist of a router or routers with open WiFi. No security protocol in place, no passwords. Just connect me, baby. The problem with open WiFi, of course, is that it is easy to be on the same network with a sniffer program or keylogger, and get every keystroke, and personal information, which is then used to steal from you. Either do what I do, and bring a shared WiFi connection from your phone or dedicated MiFi device, or use separate VPN (Virtual Private Network) software, which creates a private tunnel that is password protected. An added bonus is that a VPN is anonymous, and your web activities cannot be easily tracked. There are many other travel scams listed in this article that every traveler should know about. Be safe out there.