Whenever you connect to a public Wi-Fi network, you risk infecting your device and/or giving away important information and data. Here's what you can do to stay safe.
CHOOSE THE HOTSPOT CAREFULLY
It is always wise to connect to a popular network, which has been set up by a legit company, rather than make your device the client of an unknown/rogue network. While doing this, be on the lookout for evil twins, fraudulent wireless networks which appear to be legitimate, but are set up by cyber criminals who want to steal data from unsuspecting people. If your device detects several hotspots which have very similar or identical network names, be sure to ask the owner what's the name of his/her hotspot.
USE A MOBILE ANTIVIRUS
You can find decent mobile security suites in the app stores, and if you shop around, you may even get a lifetime subscription to one of the top-rated antiviruses for a modest fee! iOS is a solid operating system, and Android's Play Protect does a good job, but if you plan to use public hotspots, you should invest some money into a mobile antivirus.
DON'T VISIT HTTP-BASED SITES
You should definitely check out our "Everything you need to know about HTTPS" guide, but here's the main idea: HTTPS sites are secure, but HTTP sites should always be avoided, because any information that's exchanged with them (including credit card info, etc.) can be intercepted by third parties as it travels across the web.
The good news is that most sites (yeah, including Facebook) utilize the HTTPS protocol, so they'll encrypt your data. To be on the safe side, look for a green padlock icon in your browser's URL bar; if it is there, your data isn't exposed, unless your device is already infected with malware.
LIMIT THE NUMBER OF APPS AND THEIR PERMISSIONS
If you are like most people, you have installed several file sharing applications on your mobile device. Think apps such as AirDrop, Instashare, WeTransfer, and so on. These apps may be useful, but they may also give hackers access to your files the minute you've connected your smartphone or tablet to a compromised public hotspot. So, to stay on the safe side, disable file sharing, or, if you are taking a long vacation, uninstall all those file sharing apps from your device. This way, you should be able to keep personal data for yourself.
USE A VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK (VPN)
It's one of the safest ways to keep your devices free from harm, because all the data will be encrypted, and then routed through a virtual tunnel, making it impossible for the bad guys to intercept it. Don't use one of the free or cheap VPN apps for this task, though; most of them are full of spyware, and you can't tell if your data will be encrypted or not while it passes through those guys' servers. For best results, use a VPN service from a reputable provider, even if this means paying a few extra dollars per month.
UPDATE THE MOBILE OS AND THE APPS
Many developers discover bugs and security holes in their applications, and they'll often release patches that fix those problems. So, do your part and install operating system patches and updates as soon as they become available. You should do the same for all the installed apps, of course.