Even a normal Dubai/Abu Dhabi day leaves a long digital trail. You take the Metro, get a QR code for breakfast at JLT, join a meeting in the hotel lobby and order dinner on the way home. Not one bit of it is remotely sharing data. All of it is.
There are more people that have begun to take notice of it and making subtle changes in their behaviors. Not in a dramatic way, not because of fear, rather in a manner similar to when people began wearing sunscreen after learning the effects of the sun. This is how it applies in real-life situations.
The convenience trade
Smart cities need data.Data is the life blood of smart cities. Every network you join will be able to see something about the device you connect to, loyalty apps will know what you are buying, and payment apps will know where you’re spending. This is normal, and a lot of this is helpful. The trick is in how readily the pieces add up. Stack them all up and they tell a lot about your lifestyle – where you go to work, when you go there, what you can afford.
There’s no escaping the urban grind and no one is calling for it. Some of the pieces can be influenced, however, particularly those which move over networks that you don’t own.
Where residents feel exposed
Repeat the questions and the answers are the same. Viewing a bank app on the café’s WiFi. Signing into the work email while waiting to board at an airport gate. Use of a co-working space for sending contracts or invoices. Using a laptop on a hotel WiFi for a week.Waking a laptop up on a hotel network for a week.
Most websites now use encryption to keep users safe when it’s on public Wi-Fi, says the US Federal Trade Commission. The easiest point of attack is the fake network: a hotspot with a name similar to “Mall_Free_WiFi” that is setup by someone within a close distance of the wireless network to capture unwary visitors.
The habits that are spreading
Switching on a VPN by default
The most frequent alteration is the easiest. Users turn on the VPN, configure it to connect to any network they aren’t on, and let it run on its own. Encrypts traffic between phone and VPN server, masking all traffic with scrambled data to prevent anyone sharing network from knowing what it is, and masking the user’s IP address with the VPN server’s IP address to prevent websites from knowing who you are.
There are lots of people who try a free VPN to determine if it works for them. It’s a smart thing to do as long as the provider does not sell users data but makes its profits from the paid plans.
Stronger passwords and two-factor sign-in
If your passcode is too easy to crack, then a VPN is of little assistance. In addition to the other habits listed, the silent collaborators are password managers and two-factor authentication. It’s a sobering five minutes to check your email address if it has been found in an old data breach on Have I Been Pwned.
Asking before connecting
Asking employees what the network they’re connecting to is called is still one of the easiest ways to protect against fake hotspots — it’s old fashioned but true.
Different jobs, same logic
Creative and freelancers who need to move huge files between cafés want those files encrypted. The stakes are higher for consultants and lawyers who are on-the-go with client files. Parents with school app and family group chats would prefer their information to be kept close. The instruments used are the same in all of them. How much is at stake in case of failure is changed.
Making it painless
Habits take hold when they are not a blockage. Modern protocols like WireGuard maintain speeds nearly equal to a normal connection, and are comparatively not much battery intensive, which means that there’s not much reason to turn off protection when a video call begins. One-tap applications, automatic connection and kill switch (which prevents traffic if the VPN drops) require little thought.
Tonight’s to-do list
Download a VPN via the official app store, ensuring that the app’s developer name corresponds to the provider’s website. Enable auto-connect for untrusted networks and kill switch. Enable 2-step verification for email and banking apps. Then teach someone else how! This is how most of these bad habits are passed along.
A city that looks after itself
Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been designed to be convenient and that is a positive. Safeguarding data does not equal the use of the city less. It simply means that you have to use it like you would any other tool, with common sense. You don’t lock your car just because you’re in a crowded souk, so you shouldn’t lock up your jacks because that’s where you are. The “little habits” that you set up once, run in the background from then on.
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