Wizzie

I am wondering, is it dangerous to connect to public open hotspots with your laptop and checking your email for example? Or logging to some site with your credentials?

Ricks937

Short answer: Yes

Long answer: well.... 'is dangerous', and 'could be' are two different things. someone 'could' be sniffing traffic and get your info. But alot of traffic is encrypted anyway.. so odds are low. If you go through an ssh tunnel or some such, you are as secure as you are from your home network.

be smart, but yeah...

Miles312

Also, if you do decide to do this, always always always use the https:// etc URL whenever possible. This creates an encrypted session between your browser and the website that you're logging into. Not every website will have this but places like amazon, gmail and etc do, so see if you have the S in your HTTP. :P

Kesha

I only use public wifi hotspots where I have to, such as when I'm on the bus, or when I'm at school (but they're private anyways)

I don't think we've had a big problem with rogue hotspots here where I live, so I'm not really concerned. :x