If you ever connect to an unsecured (open) wireless network, there is a semi-new twist that some low-lifes are using to steal/copy your personal information.

Here is basically how it works (simplified, without all the hard core technical how they do it.):

In airports, malls, shopping centers, basically anywhere there are a lot of people passing through. Areas which some people will probably want to kill a few minutes online by using one of the free Wi-Fi connections that are normally present in such locations. The thieves set up a laptop with some very special software to share the laptop's internet connection using a wireless SID name that appears to belong in the area. For instance use the name of a near by shop as part of the SID name, for example "Uncle Daves Burgers n Banjos-Guest Access".

The Victim looks around sees the shop name and decides to use that wireless connection. What is not obvious is that it is a FAKE Wi-Fi connection. Full access to the internet is usually granted so one can do most everything they want without restriction (the bad guys WANT the victim to be online). What the victim does not know is that EVERYTHING that they are doing while connected to the fake Wi-Fi is being recorded. That includes user names and passwords of any account logged into manually or automatically. Security and encryption levels vary greatly from site to site. So just because a group says that all your information is encrypted does not mean that it could not be decrypted by someone that has literally every piece of information you sent to the remote site and the remote site sent to you. (Basically think of the fake wi-fi as a nosey messenger relaying notes between your device and the system(s) you are connecting. How the bad guys do it is a bit more complex than that, but it is the general idea.)

There are several things you can do to protect yourself, when not using known safe networks:

-> Do NOT allow your system (smart phone, laptop, tablet, etc.) to connect to unknown Wi-Fi networks automatically.

-> Avoid Wi-Fi's that indicate they are AD-HOC connections. As these allow for the other system to connect directly to yours. (or yours to connect directly to theirs, depending on how you look at it.) Either way this connection method removes a lot of the security that would normally be present on regular Wi-Fi connection.

-> Make sure file sharing is turned off. That includes turning off any P2P file sharing programs one might be using.

-> Set up some VPN connections on your system. Then connect to one of the connections/activate the vpn connection when using open Wi-Fi connections or unknown networks. There are several free VPN groups available around the planet that grant a few hours of access each day. With a reasonably secure VPN an extra level of encryption is added to everything you do online. Thus making it more difficult for anyone to capture useful information about your online activity.

-> If unable to set up or use a secure VPN (they are sometimes blocked) try using a secure proxy. Proxy security levels vary greatly but they are better than nothing when connecting to unknown open networks.

The big thing to remember is that most of the "low-lifes" tend to look for easy targets. You don't need to "go crazy" with insane levels of security, but at the same time you do not want to let access to your information to be to easy either.

In our technology driven world, a little bit of "tech savvy" and good common sense goes a long way.