Turn Off Auto-Join for Public Wi-Fi Networks

Your phone remembers every Wi-Fi network you have ever connected to and eagerly reconnects whenever it sees the same name. An attacker can exploit this by creating a network with a common name — "Free_WiFi", "Airport_WiFi", "Starbucks" — and your device will connect automatically without asking, routing all your traffic through their equipment.

Go through your saved Wi-Fi networks and remove ones you no longer use, especially public ones. Disable auto-join for any network that is not your home or office. On iPhone, tap the info icon next to the network and toggle off Auto-Join. On Android, long-press the network and select Forget. This small cleanup significantly reduces your attack surface.