Where are Free Wi-Fi Hotspots in New York City?

Similar to air, water, food and shelter, internet is now a basic requirement for life. There’s a lot of Googling, Facebooking, Instagramming, Tweeting to do all the time. New York City gets that and understands the increasing usage of internet.

Being the centre of attention for local and international tourists, the city has begun to set up free Wi-Fi hotspots in old phone booths to facilitate internet users. The internet service installed in phone booths also provides USB ports to recharge Smartphones.

Moreover, parks are equipped with free Wi-Fi hotspots in New York – Central Park, Prospect Park, Flushing Meadows amongst various others. Additionally, subway stations too in New York provide free Wi-Fi service to commuters.

Map of Free Wi-Fi hotspots in New York

Why are the Free Wi-Fi Hotspots Unsafe?

Restaurants, cafes, malls, shops, etc. across New York City provide free Wi-Fi service to attract more customers. However, they also attract individuals with an ulterior motive of exploiting users connected to public Wi-Fi hotspots. These individuals are known as cyber criminals or hackers. There are numerous dangers that prevail when you connect to a free unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot.

Typically, free Wi-Fi hotspots are only secured with passwords. This method might have worked if only a chosen few people were allowed to connect to the hotspot. Unfortunately, a business establishment shares the password with every visitor and this allows any hacker to connect to the Wi-Fi hotspot and easily gather the information of individuals who are connected to the same Wi-Fi router.

The hacker can virtually see your online movements and go even a step further to download malware on your device. This allows the hacker to get access to your internet accounts and spy on your social accounts, emails, bank accounts and much more. The hacker can also change your passwords and withdraw or transfer money from your bank account.
How Do You Protect Yourself?

Your online presence should be of eminent importance to you otherwise it may be used against you at any given time. In order to protect yourself against cyber attacks/criminals, you must use a VPN.

A Virtual Private Network makes you anonymous over the internet. A VPN works by dedicating you an IP of a different server located in a different country. This dupes snoopers as your online traffic gets passed through a secure VPN tunnel.

The best VPN for that matter is PureVPN, which employs military grade 256-bit encryption along with strict protocols to safeguard you against hackers. All your internet requests get encrypted and channeled through the VPN server which secures your online presence.

With PureVPN, you get supreme security and privacy online. Get PureVPN and get access to an online world without boundaries while connecting to any free Wi-Fi hotspot in New York.