How safe is public WiFi for Macs?

MacGal

MacGal


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Hi everyone! I have several big updates that I have been needing to download for a while, but my internet connection is rather slow. Because of this, I have been thinking about taking my MacBook to a bookstore or somewhere that has public WiFi to download them.

What I am wondering, is how secure this will be for my MacBook. Is it best to have some kind of extra anti malware/spyware software for using public internet, or is the built in firewall enough?

Thanks for any input!
 
cwa107

cwa107


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MacGal said:
Hi everyone! I have several big updates that I have been needing to download for a while, but my internet connection is rather slow. Because of this, I have been thinking about taking my MacBook to a bookstore or somewhere that has public WiFi to download them.

What I am wondering, is how secure this will be for my MacBook. Is it best to have some kind of extra anti malware/spyware software for using public internet, or is the built in firewall enough?

Thanks for any input!
Click to expand...

There is no executable spyware or viruses for Macs in the wild, period. You have no risk of "contracting" something by downloading Software Updates (via a trusted source).

The only risk you take is that of having your Mac on a public network, and providing that your firewall is enabled and in "stealth" mode, that really isn't much of a risk at all.
 

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