MOSCOW, June 18Using wireless data transfer technologies, including Apple AirDrop, to share documents in public places is dangerous because attackers can send unwanted or malicious files, said Boris Lopatin, senior expert on the investigation of fraud incidents at MegaFon.
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“Using AirDrop in public places to share photos, documents, and other data with Apple devices is also not worth it. This also applies to Android smartphones. Although they do not work over Wi-Fi, they can transfer unwanted or malicious files to your device. If you still want to transfer files via AirDrop, then enable the «Contacts Only» setting on the device, Lopatin warned.
In addition, the expert advised turning off the automatic connection to Wi-Fi function in order reduce the risk of joining an insecure network that scammers have access to.
«You should not go to Internet banks, electronic wallets or enter payment information from a bank card on sites with public Wi-Fi connected. First of all, this applies to open Wi-Fi points without a password, as scammers will be able to see all the information in your applications. Use only mobile or home Internet for such operations,» the expert noted.
He added that a similar rule applies to logging into social media accounts through someone else's or public network.
An expert recommended connecting to authorized Wi-Fi hotspots because such networks have WPA/WPA2 encryption mechanisms to protect user data. Also, according to him, you should only use sites with a digital security certificate HTTPS — this is the standard protocol for all sites with a secure connection.
Lopatin thinks it's also worth installing an antivirus on the device: «most of them will warn you if you're trying to connect to insecure networks.»