Public Wi-Fi safety on a Mac
Public Wi-Fi in cafés, hotels, and airports is convenient, but you're sharing it with strangers and it's often unsecured. A few simple habits keep you safe without giving it up.
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Confirm the network name
Before connecting, check the exact network name with a member of staff. Scammers set up hotspots with names like Free Airport WiFi to lure people in, so a lookalike name is a warning sign.
Be careful what you do
Most websites are encrypted (look for the padlock), but treat public Wi-Fi as somewhere to browse rather than do anything sensitive. For banking or logging in to important accounts, use a VPN, or switch to your phone's personal hotspot instead.
Tidy up your settings
Turn on the macOS firewall with stealth mode for public networks, and switch off automatic joining for networks you won't use again under System Settings, then Network, then Wi-Fi, then Details. When you're done, choose Forget This Network so your Mac doesn't reconnect to a lookalike later.
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