The Real Heat In WiFi Hot Spots
Most computer users understand the need for network security. Most people have security software on their computers. However, that is not sufficient to truly protect computers. As the software runs within the operating system (OS), some attacks are able to attack holes in the OS before the security software has a chance to reach it. Or, in the case of attacks such as “denial of service attacks”, so many messages are sent to a computer that all its resources are used in trying to respond, halting the system.
Because of those reasons, enterprise corporations, government organizations and other major institutions have large network appliances being used as firewalls to protect the connection to the Internet, separating critical security from the individual computers in order to improve the safety of all computers on the network.
The Trouble With Hot Spots
WiFi hot spots are often protected the same way, so attacks from outside the network can't get to your computer. However, look to the people on your left. On your right. Who are they?
You don't know the other people using the same hot spot. If only one has malicious intent, that person is already behind the firewall and can attack your laptop. At that point, you're only relying on security software which was intended as the last line of defense, not as the only line.
Protecting Laptops
While most personal computers have some kind of software for security, pure software protection is not sufficient. There are many attacks that can work around software, attacking the operating system before the security software has a chance to act. That's why businesses have external hardware to protect the full network. Until recently, that hardware was too large and expensive to be of use to individual computer users.
Using flash memory, Linux and other leading edge hardware and software technology, companies have created USB devices to provide network separation and true protection. A small application on the laptop can prevent any network connections from working unless a USB security device is attached. The device can then trap all network activity before it can do anything to your laptop.
As an added benefit, as the device is designed for security, it runs those applications faster than a PC can and also frees PC resources in order to improve laptop performance.
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