Beware the dangers of public wifi

Security Writer at ESET

With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing an increasing number of companies to shift to remote work, some employees working from home have been struggling to find a quiet environment for work. The hospitality industry has also been impacted by the pandemic, with more and more hotels across the United States and around the world offering their empty rooms as daytime makeshift offices for remote workers seeking to work in a distraction-free place.

Taking note of the trend, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has issued an announcement warning about the risks of using hotel Wi-Fi networks to access sensitive and work-related information. “Malicious actors can exploit inconsistent or lax hotel Wi-Fi security and guests’ security complacency to compromise the work and personal data of hotel guests,” the Bureau warned.

Related reading: Public Wi Fi security: Your questions answered

Hotel guests connected to WiFi networks can be easy targets for cybercriminals, who can launch a variety of attacks to target their victims. This includes infiltrating a poorly secured network to monitor the victims’ traffic and redirect them to fraudulent login pages. Another threat is posed by “evil twin” attacks, wherein the attacker creates a malicious Wi-Fi network that carries a similar name to the hotel’s network in order to dupe unsuspecting guests into connecting to it and providing the black hats with direct access to the devices.

A threat actor could also compromise the employee’s company-issued devices in order to gain access to sensitive data stored on the device or to infiltrate the company’s network. This could allow the hacker to comb through the company’s systems in search of proprietary information, as well as implant malware

employee’s skills, not just through formal learning but by being exposed to a myriad of new jobs and roles inside the company to increase their engagement levels while stemming job hopping.

Unsurprisingly, more than 6 in 10 respondents believe that technological factors (such as digital transformation, automation, artificial intelligence, etc.) are most likely to change the nature of work in the future.

Perception of recruiters

When it comes to attracting and retaining the right talent to succeed in the digitalized era, online job sites are currently the most used by recruiters in Kuwait today (64%) and are considered as the most effective source to recruit candidates (27%).

Compared to traditional methods, almost 9 in 10 recruiters (87%) believe that online recruitment will continue to facilitate the recruiting process in the future – a whopping 94% of the recruiters agree that online job sites and professional platforms will be the most popular recruiting platforms. On the other hand, 81% agree that managing the employer’s brand and reputation will be critical for attracting talent.

Recruiters have huge hopes for AI and technology in the hiring process, with 86% agreeing that response time to applicants is likely to improve using such as keyloggers or ransomware that could then propagate to other devices connected to the network.

“Cybercriminals can use information gathered from access to company data to trick business executives into transferring company funds to the criminal,” added the FBI when highlighting the threat of Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams, also known as CEO fraud.

Related reading: 6 tips for safe and secure remote working

Remote workers who are considering making the leap to working from a hotel would do well to ponder additional risks beyond their control, such as the hotel’s approach to cybersecurity or how it handles its network infrastructure. The hotelturned-office may be using outdated networking equipment that could be riddled with vulnerabilities or it may not update and patch its systems often enough, any of which could provide avenues for attacks.

However, if working from a hotel room remains an attractive option, there are steps that employees can take to protect their devices and mitigate the chances of falling prey to cybercriminals while working on a public hotel Wi-Fi.

■ Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) will help protect you from prying eyes by encrypting your internet traffic.

■ Check to see if your work device as well as any device you will be connecting to the hotel’s Wi-Fi network have been updated to the newest versions of their operating systems and that all recent security patches have been applied.

■ If possible, avoid accessing any accounts or files that carry sensitive data such as financial details.

■ While logging into your accounts make sure that you’re using two-factor authentication, which will add an extra layer of security.

■ Instead of connecting to the hotel’s network, you can use your smartphone to create a mobile hotspot.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and 77% believing that the future of hiring will rely more on automation, artificial intelligence, and analytics. Job seeking in the future

With an increased need for reliable information from the frontlines of change –respondents believe that online job boards and career websites (59%) as well as social and professional networks (53%) will be the most reliable job seeking sources in the future.

Zafar Shah, Research Director, Data Services at YouGov said: “Throughout the MENA region, organizations share common challenges in terms of managing the hiring process within the evolving work landscape.

A particular focus of our new survey with Bayt.com is arriving at a better understanding of the potential of new technologies, methods and skills that will vastly improve the job quality and productivity of professionals in the future.”

Data for the Future of Work in the MENA 2020 survey was collected online from Aug 12 and Sept 5, 2020. Results are based on a sample of 3,020 respondents from the following countries: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, and others.