The way we work has changed. The rise of remote and hybrid working means that many office professionals are no longer tied to an office all of the time.

While working from home is a suitable option for many people, sometimes a change of scenery is nice — which is why some of us work from cafes, coffee shops or even unconventional locations like a boat or a van.

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Then there’s the possibility that you’ll be travelling for work — or going on vacation — and want to open your laptop or smartphone to check-in with your emails, social media, or banking application on the go, perhaps from an airport, a hotel lobby, or a conference venue.

When you do this, it’s likely that the public space you’re in will have free Wi-Fi available for anyone to use.

By providing public Wi-Fi, the venue enables people to use the internet, something that’s useful for customers and could encourage them to stay longer in public spaces.

But while useful, the nature of public Wi-Fi networks means they’re open for anybody to use — and data being transferred isn’t as secure as it would be on your home or corporate network.

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Your login names, passwords, bank details and other personal information could all be at risk if you’re not careful — either because the network itself is insecure, or a malicious hacker has set themselves up on the same network and is directing data entered by others through channels they can see.

Here are five steps you can take to help keep your data secure from hackers and other threats to your privacy while using public Wi-Fi.

How to use public Wi-Fi safely