I have read that with https sites (such as banks), even public wifi is relatively safe. I am currently travelling overseas (I am from the US) and need to pay bills, log on to bank websites etc. I have both Aura VPN and Nord VPN. From what I have read, it should be safe to do banking using a public wifi and the VPN (in fact from what I have read it would be safe even without the VPN - not sure if this is right?). For an extra $15, I can pay my cellular carrier for a mobile hotspot for my phone and then I could use the cellular service plus VPN to log into banking websites (instead of public wifi plus VPN). This seems to me to add an additional level of security but not sure if (a) I am correct here and (b) I am being overly paranoid? Grateful for any advice - thank you!
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Https is encrypted with TSL. This will keep the contents of your traffic secure. An attacker with access to the gateway network may be able to gather some information on your traffic like what sites you visit by capturing DNS requests.
After the gateway router, your traffic moves through the ISPs system then to BGP routers through various countries until it gets to the destination server.
A VPN establishes an encrypted tunnel so all of your traffic is encrypted through this unknown network path.
A VPN just moves the exit point for your data. So you’re moving who could get details on your traffic. It really boils down to moving your trust to another provider. Depending on the country you are in, a VPN could also move your traffic out to another country bypassing potentially monitored networks.
Using a hotspot is generally more secure than open WiFi because there is no shared network, but it really depends on how the WiFi is implemented. Spoofing cell towers are only a threat from very sophisticated threat actors.
I personally use a VPN whenever I’m on any public WiFi.
Your level of paranoia should depend on the threat and how much of a target you are. Some people will only take burner devices to certain countries and only login to specific services while there.
Good advice. Simply put… it doesn’t matter what connection you’re on, once a VPN connection is securing your data, it’s secured from your browser to the exit point at the VPN provider.
Best to use one when you’re on hotel wifi, you can also make sure the browser is using https with the lock symbol. It’s a lot of work (but still possible) for someone to fake the browser lock symbol, but to be sure, use a VPN you trust.
Thanks so much for your helpful and detailed response - really appreciated!
Thanks so much for responding - but it sounds that using cellular - rather than hotel wifi - offers a slight additional protection with a VPN rather than hotel plus VPN - or do you not agree with this?