Beware of hacker attacks at public Hotspots

Going online these days exposes your PC to all kinds of cyber-nasties such as viruses and spyware. To combat them, we use anti-virus and anti-spyware software. You also can subject yourself to a wide variety of hacker attacks that try to access your computer. These kinds of attacks try to steal your passwords, credit card numbers, banking information and any other kind of sensitive information you may have stored on your computer's hard drive. For those problems, we install firewalls that hopefully let only the good data come in.

That's all well and good when you're using your computer at home or at the office. But what about when you take your portable computer to a Hotspot?

Hotspots are venues that offer wireless access to the Internet. Typical public Hotspots include libraries, airports and other commercial locations such as restaurants and coffee houses such as Starbucks.