Tech Tips for Non-Tech People!
Original Air Date: Sep 4, 2017
Default Public Share Folders
The tech industry preaches about the dangers of public wifi all the time, but there is something that you probably may not have realized.
Your personal laptop may be automatically sharing files with anyone connected on the same coffee shop or hotel wifi you are using.
Most laptops are setup with default or public shares, so you may be allowing others to access or possibly save random files on your computer.
Generally speaking, this isn’t going to impact your personal data, but your computer is still accessible by any random stranger connected to the same public wifi.
As a safety measure, if you have no use for the public share folders sharing files with others, switch them off.
I have actually seen situations where sensitive files were being shared in these publicly accessible folders because the user most likely didn’t realize the whole world can access these public folders.
Both Windows & Mac users most likely have these public share folders turned on, so I have posted the instructions on how to turn them off at datadoctors.com/radio.
Disable public shares in OS X: http://osxdaily.com/2014/02/11/disable-public-folder-sharing-mac-os-x
Disable public folders in Windows:
http://www.raymond.cc/blog/how-to-remove-or-disable-shared-documents-from-my-computer
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