Virgin America has teamed up with Google to offer customers free in-flight WiFi between November 10th, 2009 and January 15th, 2010. If you get the opportunity to take advantage of this special offer from Virgin America, the security of your internet will probably be the last thing on your mind, but it shouldn’t be. Any time that your computer is connected to a public wireless network without proper precautions, you’re at risk.
When you’re on an open wireless network with other people, those other users can do more than just access the internet; they can get into your computer as well. Any information that you don’t have properly protected can be opened, copied, or even deleted from another computer without so much as a notification to you. It might seem a bit unlikely that someone would do something so drastic, but remember that you’re going to be on a plane for several hours with a bunch of other people who have nothing better to do than push boundaries. Depending on the quality of the in-flight movie, you might have a fellow passenger who thinks it’s more entertaining to watch you panic. (They exist, check out the NY Times article The Trolls Among Us if you can’t believe it.)
The good news is that you can do something about it. In addition to your standard firewall and anti-virus, there are several methods that our certified techs can use to secure your system and keep all of your private files private. Call Computer Geeks today to set up an appointment with one of our techs, whether you’re hopping on a Virgin America flight or not.
That disgruntled kid in the seat next to you will just have to surf the free internet instead.