Is it safe to use public Wi-Fi?

Public Wi-Fi is meaningfully safer than the old scare stories suggest, because the web changed underneath the threat. Nearly all major websites now use HTTPS encryption (the padlock in your browser), which scrambles your data between your device and the site, so even someone snooping on the same coffee-shop network cannot read your passwords or messages the way they could a decade ago. The classic warning that hackers are stealing everything you type on open Wi-Fi is largely outdated for normal encrypted browsing.

The real risks that remain are worth respecting. The biggest is the evil twin: a scammer sets up a fake hotspot with a legitimate-sounding name (CoffeeShop_Free_WiFi) hoping you connect to it instead of the real one, routing your traffic through their equipment, so verify the exact network name with the venue and be wary of duplicates. Truly unencrypted sites or apps, now rare but not gone, could expose data. And public networks can be used to push malware or phishing pages. Sensible precautions: avoid logging into banking or entering sensitive information on unfamiliar public networks if you can wait, keep your device and browser updated, watch for that HTTPS padlock, and if you frequently work on public Wi-Fi, a reputable VPN adds a layer of encryption for the paranoid. For casual browsing on a trusted, correctly-named network with modern encrypted sites, public Wi-Fi is generally fine.