What is the best way to secure your connection at wifi hotspots?

Areas unsecured such as airports, cafes, hotels, etc.

Possible free VPNs or other security software?

The thing about Wi-fi hotspots is they are for the general population, and therefore encryption keys are usually not used and therefore unsecured.

However, the only real reason to secure any wireless connection is because you don’t want others piggy-backing off your network and taking away from you bandwidth.

Just because you are using a wireless connection does not mean you are fully exposed & an easy target for a hacker.
But word to the wise, most hacking is done through acquiring personal information that most people provide quite easily if asked the right way.

Example: Maybe you have a picture of your dog Ralph as your desktop background picture. Then someone strikes up what seems to be polite conversation while you are checking out your portfolio of recent investments. They may say something like, "what a beautiful dog, what’s his name?"
and of course you say "Ralph." Well now this person may have one of the answers to your secret question you setup incase you forget your password. It’s subtle & sneaky; but you’d be surprise how quickly that can equate to a successful hack.

And please, don’t have your badge from work hanging on your rear-view mirror in your car when your not at work. I see it all the time, and just pray these people don’t work in government or something similar.

Good luck and be safe.