Don't Fall Victim to the 'Free Wi-Fi' Scam

Keeping Safe in Windows Vista

In Windows Vista, you connect to a wireless network by first clicking the network icon in the System Tray, then selecting "Connect or disconnect." The "Connect to a Network" screen shows up, with a list of nearby wireless networks. You see the name of each and whether the network is encrypted or not; to get more details about any, hover your mouse over it, as shown in the nearby figure. But those details don't include whether the network is a true hot spot or an ad hoc network.

Before you connect to a new wireless network, the only way to tell the difference between an ad hoc network and one in infrastructure mode is to look at the network icon next to it on the "Connect to a Network" screen. As you can see in the nearby figure, the icon for a normal Wi-Fi network is one computer, while the icon for an ad hoc network instead is several computers. That's it; there's no other way to distinguish between the two.

Here's another oddity: If you right-click the list of available networks, on the menu that appears, some of them have a Properties menu item and others don't. Only those networks that you've previously visited and saved to your network list will have the Properties menu item. If you choose Properties, select the Connection tab and look next to Network Type, you'll see whether it's an ad hoc network or an access point (a normal hot spot).

But if you haven't yet connected to the network (or if you have connected previously but haven't saved it), it won't have the Properties menu item. So you can't use that method of distinguishing between ad hoc and normal Wi-Fi networks when you're looking for a hot spot on the road.

Other Steps You can Take

There are other steps you can take to keep yourself safe, including turning off file sharing and running your company's VPN when at a hot spot. You can also pay to use a VPN such as HotSpotVPN. For details and many other tips for keeping yourself safe, see "How to protect yourself at wireless hot spots".

In addition, Authentium is working with financial institutions to create a product called VirtualATM, which will help protect you when you connect to a financial institution. It's expected to be released later this year.

Preston Gralla is a contributing editor for Computerworld.com and PC World.com, and the author of more than 35 books, including How the Internet Works.