The main advantages to cafe businesses are that it makes the Internet accessible for people who do not own a computer of their own. People who would struggle to pay for internet access at home, per month, also benefit from this low cost alternative. A disadvantage is that these cafes do not always provide secure environments for web access and valuable information is more at risk of being stolen by identity thieves.
These risks are shared by computers available for access in hotels and even wireless connections in cafes and public places. These computers sometimes have key-loggers; a programme that saves your user names, passwords and sites that they were used to access.
A danger of using even programmes like Skytype, which would ordinarily be free to other computers connected to the internet around the world, means that your credit details are stored by the company in case you were to ever call a landline number. By using login details on an unsecure computer, hackers can hack into your account and, without having your credit card details, can still make phone calls on your anywhere in the world which are subsequently charged to your account.
With these issues presenting themselves to internet cafes and the like, it points to the growing pressure for better protection as users will have little choice other than to avoid using cafe and WiFi hotspots to surf the web.
As there is no way of knowing who has accessed the computer before you, another user may have unknowingly opened an email allowing a Trojan programme, like a key-logger that puts you at risk when logging onto your own email accounts, onto the system. Experts suggest that internet cafes should only be used for finding information rather than accessing sensitive information.
If changes are not made then the disadvantages of internet cafe businesses will force themselves out of business.
- But what are the risks?
These risks are shared by computers available for access in hotels and even wireless connections in cafes and public places. These computers sometimes have key-loggers; a programme that saves your user names, passwords and sites that they were used to access.
A danger of using even programmes like Skytype, which would ordinarily be free to other computers connected to the internet around the world, means that your credit details are stored by the company in case you were to ever call a landline number. By using login details on an unsecure computer, hackers can hack into your account and, without having your credit card details, can still make phone calls on your anywhere in the world which are subsequently charged to your account.
- How to prevent these problems from occurring
With these issues presenting themselves to internet cafes and the like, it points to the growing pressure for better protection as users will have little choice other than to avoid using cafe and WiFi hotspots to surf the web.
As there is no way of knowing who has accessed the computer before you, another user may have unknowingly opened an email allowing a Trojan programme, like a key-logger that puts you at risk when logging onto your own email accounts, onto the system. Experts suggest that internet cafes should only be used for finding information rather than accessing sensitive information.
If changes are not made then the disadvantages of internet cafe businesses will force themselves out of business.
