NO! Internet cafes are NOT safe because they are hazardous to your privacy, your credit cards, and your bank accounts. NEVER use any public computer in any internet cafe or kiosk for personal email, social networking, online shopping, or internet banking. While you are away from home, you are NOT protected by your home computer’s firewall and security suite.

Internet Cafe Hazards

Internet-cafe and public-computer hazards include:

• Unscrupulous owners and managers. Is the person running the internet cafe in the internet business or the identity-theft business?
• Phony “customers.” Are other internet-cafe patrons really there to spy on you? Some cybercriminal can see precisely what you are typing regardless of how fast you can type.
• “Security” cameras. Are the visible security cameras there for public safety, or the owner’s private greed? Are there invisible cameras recording all windows you view and every keystroke you make?
• Contaminated computers. Has the computer you are renting been used recently by a cybercriminal? If not, has it been used by a person who did not surf carefully enough to avoid downloading viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and spyware? In any case, it is almost certainly infected with malware, including a keylogger that records all your keystrokes.
• Booby-trapped computers. Has the owner or manager installed any spying devices, such as a hardware keylogger, in the computer you are renting? To know for sure, you would need to disassemble the computer and remove the spying devices, IF you can find them.
• Unsafe WiFi. Internet cafes often provide local WiFi hot spots. You should not use these to connect your laptop to the internet because other WiFi users can spy on you, even if you use encryption software. For more information, see SSL Gmail Can Be Attacked.

How to Use a Public Computer

You can use a public computer to surf the internet just for fun. For example, you can be safe while anonymously browsing through news, weather, or video websites. Simply be sure to remember the above hazards of internet cafes and public computers; do not use your passwords, make online purchases, or access your bank accounts.

Note: If you absolutely must use email through a public computer, make sure that you do NOT use your personal email. Instead, set up a free online email account, send only non-personal and non-private information, and then change the password on the account as soon as you arrive home. Be sure to limit this practice; it’s too easy to make the mistake of sending personal information through your non-personal email account.

Useless “Protective” Products

Many products offer protection against internet-cafe and public-computer hazards. No software or hardware you download or purchase can fully protect your privacy while you use a public computer. For example, although you might protect your password through OTP (One Time Password) software, cybercriminals can still record all your other keystrokes. Your ’safe’ password won’t help much if you lose your money and/or your identity.

Safe Alternatives to Public Computers

Safe alternatives to using internet cafes and other public computers include:

• Performing banking transactions through your cell phone.
• Using your laptop to send encrypted (SSL or VPN) email and internet data. You can use either:
  • Your personal, subscribed wireless internet service, such as Verizon Mobile Broadband.
  • A hotel’s high-speed internet connection, such as Holiday Inn’s Smart Connect.