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Computer users should be careful while using Wi-Fi hotspots at airports and other public places, to prevent hackers lurking around from having access to sensitive information, US Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned.

As a matter routine, the FBI says people “kill” time at airports connecting to airport’s Wi-Fi to check their office e-mail, do personal banking or shop for a gift.

But they should first consider the odds, for there could be a hacker nearby, with his own laptop, attempting to “eavesdrop” on their computer to obtain personal data.

In the United States, there are 68,000 Wi-Fi “hot spots” at airports, coffee shops, hotels, bookstores, schools and other locations.

While many of these hot spots have secure networks, some do not, according to Supervisory Special Agent Donna Peterson of FBI’s Cyber Division. And connecting to an insecure network can leave one vulnerable to attacks from hackers.

Agent Peterson said one of the most common types of attack is this: a bogus but legitimate-looking Wi-Fi network with a strong signal is strategically set up in a known hot spot…and the hacker waits for nearby laptops to connect to it.

At that point, your computer and all your sensitive information, including user ID, passwords, credit card numbers, basically belongs to the hacker, Peterson said.

The intruder can mine your computer for valuable data, direct you to phony webpages that look like ones you frequent, and record your every keystroke.

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