There are small details that cost nothing and help us a lot to improve our security and privacy. Today we offer you one of the tips that costs no more than a few seconds and will bring immediate benefits. Moreover, the fact that many users do not pay attention to this allows some attackers to take advantage of it.

We are talking about disconnecting the mobile phone from WiFi when we leave the house. It is normal to activate it when we are at home, but when we go out we will most likely pull our data. We don’t need mobile WiFi enabled by constantly searching for WiFi networks.

This is for safety, not for battery

Most smartphones these days have smart Wi-Fi management that prevents this option from being constantly enabled, but taking a look at this setting is our tip of the day. It won’t take more than a few seconds.

There is no direct reason why we keep WiFi active outside the home. It is unnecessary to keep searching for WiFi networks when we are out and about. While the energy expenditure required to maintain this is almost zero on both Android and iOS, it is also unnecessary.

Therefore, energy saving is not the reason for this. Yes, it is more important on a security level. Activating WiFi on our mobile phone our purpose is to connect to an external WiFi network without. And this Wi-Fi network may have been created with the express purpose of creating a security issue.

WiFi networks have a very wide coverage area. This means that it is possible for mobile phones passing over a wide area to be affected. Also connect to a WiFi network involves sharing location with this networkThis represents the impact on our privacy.

We’re no longer talking about cyber attackers, just WiFi in a public park, cafeteria, or business on the opposite block. If we connect to those networks, we can be sharing our time there. Information we don’t necessarily want to share.

Cell phones search WiFi networks to find themselves

Disabling WiFi isn’t just a matter of clicking the icon in the quick settings menu. What we need to do is disable the network search associated with location services. To do this on Android we must go to: Go to Settings > Location and uncheck the ‘Search for Wi-Fi networks’ boxes and ‘Search for Bluetooth devices’

Newer versions of Android include smart Wi-Fi management. If we go to ‘Network and Internet’ and ‘Network Preferences’ we can find the function ‘Automatically enable Wi-Fi’ so that this connection activates itself when high-quality networks are registered, the password for which is already there. like at home.

The advice to disable Wi-Fi when we leave the house and check that it is not activated is along the lines of remembering that only connecting to public and free Wi-Fi networks can pose a security and privacy issue. If there is no other option, we recommend checking that all connections within the WiFi use HTTPS and using a VPN if possible.

Any additional security settings are recommended when it comes to WiFi networks whose source we do not control.

Image | Sten Ritterfeld

in Xataka | This is how you can protect yourself against those who want to steal your WiFi