Tech Tips for Non-Tech People!
Original Air Date: Jan 11, 2019
Disable Public Shares!
I’m sure you’ve heard lots of experts talking about the dangers of using public wifi, but there may be something else you’re exposed to but didn’t realize.
Your beloved laptop might be sharing files with others connected to the same public Wi-Fi without you knowing what’s going on.
The default or public shares on your laptop may be allowing others to access or even save items onto your laptop.
This alone won’t impact your other critical files in other areas, but technically your laptop is accessible by any random user of the same public wifi.
To play it safe, especially if you never need to use the public share folder, turn off this feature.
I have actually seen situations where files that could be considered sensitive have been stored in the accessible folders because the laptop owner didn’t realize anyone could access those folders.
Both Mac & Windows users have this potential issue, so here are the instructions on how to turn them off
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
For Windows 10 users: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/50179-turn-off-public-folder-sharing-windows-10-a.html
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