The security of public Wi-Fi networks has improved in recent years with the more widespread use of WPA3 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 3) encryption as this makes the networks strongly resistant to eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle and brute force attacks.
However, many threats still remain such as the existence of legacy Wi-Fi protocols, the lack of forward secrecy on WPA2 networks as well as the potential for fake hotspots and browser session hijacking even when using a secure connection.
Some safety precautions to take when using public Wi-Fi include ensuring your browser and operating system are up to date, using a VPN, using antivirus software, enabling two-factor authentication and not auto-connecting to unknown Wi-Fi networks.
The guidance is to use cellular data when in doubt, for example when conducting financial transactions.
