Everything You Need to Know About Public WiFi Security

Why Public WiFi Is Dangerous for Hong Kong Users

Public WiFi networks — at MTR stations, shopping malls, cafés, and hotels — are open networks where traffic is visible to anyone on the same network with basic packet sniffing tools. Without encryption, every website you visit, every email you send, and every form you fill in is potentially readable by an attacker sitting at the same coffee shop table.

Hong Kong has one of the world's densest public WiFi deployments, with WiFi.HK hotspots covering transport hubs, government buildings, and commercial areas. The convenience comes with risk: densely used networks attract criminals who set up rogue access points or monitor traffic on legitimate networks.

• Packet sniffing: Unencrypted traffic is readable to anyone on the same network
• Evil twin attacks: Fake networks mimicking legitimate hotspots steal your data
• Man-in-the-middle: Attackers intercept and modify your traffic without your knowledge
• ARP spoofing: Redirects network traffic through the attacker's device
• Session hijacking: Stolen session cookies let attackers access your accounts
• DNS hijacking: Rogue networks redirect you to fake websites