Be Wi-Fi Aware — Use Caution with Wireless Hot Spots
Wireless hot spots provide great convenience for anyone traveling or working outside the office. But with the benefits come risks.
Hot spots provide a wireless access point (WAP) available to anyone with a laptop antenna. WAPs may not be secured, because the owners want to make this service available to as many users as possible. Hotels sometimes offer better security since they try to limit access to guests, while businesses like coffee shops usually provide none — meaning the WAP signal is not encrypted and thus easily intercepted.
According to the Computer Incident Response Team, a public WAP should never be used to perform private business, enter credit card information, or access bank accounts online. Using a WAP for these purposes leaves information vulnerable to theft by anyone else connected to that network.
When conducting USPS business outside the office, be sure to use the USPS® Virtual Private Network (VPN), which creates a secure, encrypted connection from a laptop back to the VPN device located inside the USPS network. When using the VPN, keep in mind that surfing the Internet or viewing personal email can pass malware into the Postal Service™ network.
— Corporate Information Security Office,
Chief Information Officer, 6-13-13
