I wrote about this issue a few years ago ( http://cruftbox.com/blog/archives/000870.html )
Basically, you can use a VPN to avoid such problems. Most mid-large size companies provide VPN service to thier workers, but if you want a private one, you can try someone like HotspotVPN ( http://www.hotspotvpn.com/ ) -Michael On 4/22/07, Jo3 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-consumer22apr22,0,5309582.story?track=ntothtml > >From the Los Angeles Times > CONSUMER WATCH > Public Wi-Fi may turn your life into an open notebook > Don't assume wireless hot spots are secure. 'Sniffers' may be hacking > nearby. > By David Colker > Times Staff Writer > > April 22, 2007 > > No one in the evening crowd at a Starbucks in Pasadena knew Humphrey > Cheung. > > But Cheung, quietly sipping hot chocolate and working on his laptop, > knew things about them. > > Several tables away was a guy sitting alone with his own laptop. "He's > starting a business," Cheung said. And the young couple in the far > corner? "They're getting married," he confided. > > Cheung isn't psychic. He had hacked into the coffee shop's wireless > Internet connection on his Toshiba laptop. It took him all of about five > minutes to do so, using free software available online. > > Public Wi-Fi is very handy for perusing the Internet away from the > office or home. Just remember that you may have company while surfing. > > Once hooked into the system, Cheung was able to monitor the online > activity of other laptops in the shop. > > Luckily for the people around him, he wasn't snooping for any reason > except to make a point: As wireless hot spots proliferate, the tools for > secretly monitoring these Internet connections are becoming more > sophisticated. > > "When people are on a public wireless connection, they have the same > expectations about privacy as when they are on the Internet at home," > said Cheung, 32, a computer security expert and an editor for TG Daily, > a technology news website. > > "But it doesn't work that way. Someone could be listening in." > > Cheung was using a "sniffer" program that intercepted online signals as > they flew back and forth from the laptops to a wireless modem hidden > somewhere amid the coffee paraphernalia. > > Mostly, the monitoring was limited to tracking the websites being > visited. Numbers correlating to Web addresses flew across Cheung's > computer screen, allowing him to see that the couple were viewing pages > belonging to a wedding planning site. > > The man a few tables away started with sites selling high-speed > broadband service. He went from there to a page about managing websites. > > Like in a mystery yarn, the clues kept coming in. "You start to get a > story about someone," Cheung said. > > Suddenly, the line "LLCs in the state of California" popped up on the > screen. An LLC is a limited liability company, a type of business > structure often used by small-business owners. > > "He's in Google," Cheung said. "That's a search he typed in." > > Sure enough, the next stop was a California secretary of state site with > information about forming LLCs. > > When approached, the man, Alex Auzers, 20, of Pasadena, confirmed that > he was doing research on starting a business. > > Asked if he had searched the exact phrase, "LLCs in the state of > California," Auzers looked stunned. Then he shook his head. > > "Is someone using a sniffer program?" he asked. > > Auzers also is in the computer field he hopes to start a business that > would service residential setups. > > "I feel kind of stupid," he said, "because I know that kind of thing can > be done." > > The company that provides wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi, signals at > Starbucks is T-Mobile USA Inc. It manages about 7,600 HotSpots > nationwide, including in coffee shops, hotels and airports. > > On its website, the company warns that communications in the HotSpots > "may be subject to unauthorized interception and are not inherently > secure." > > But good luck in finding that security warning. The link to it is in > small print at the bottom of T-Mobile's HotSpot Web page, grouped with > 18 other links to various company Web pages. > > T-Mobile offers a free software program, Connection Manager, to improve > browsing security, said Mike Selman, the service's marketing director. > "You can use this to make sure you are connected properly to our > network," Selman said, "and that communications are encrypted from the > laptop." > > But the security program also seems to be more or less a secret. Not > only does the name of the program not mention security, but the link to > download it also is grouped with several other items in a dropdown menu. > And if you have a Macintosh computer, you're out of luck: The software > comes only in a Windows version. > > Asked whether customers at a HotSpot should be told about the software > as they sign on, Selman answered, "Not a bad suggestion." > > At least Cheung couldn't read e-mails. Except in one case. > > Most major e-mail sites on the Web such as those run by AOL, > EarthLink, Google and Yahoo are protected by encryption. This is > signified by the site address beginning with "https" instead of "http." > > Major banking and e-commerce pages that ask for financial information > are https, too. But the Web e-mail page for Internet service provider > Charter Communications Inc. is plain old http and therefore not secure. > > Cheung tuned into a Charter e-mail page being viewed in a Starbucks and > began to read, "In an oiled casserole dish ." > > It was a recipe for yam enchiladas. > > "You definitely want to make sure that if you are using Web e-mail on a > wireless connection," Cheung said, "that it's on an https page." > > In response to questions about its non-secure service, Charter said in > an e-mail that it was "currently exploring an https implementation as > well as other security options." > > On home Wi-Fi setups, password protection can be implemented on the > modem, which offers a lot of security although some hackers say they > can break through the most basic protection regimen, known as WEP. > > Public Wi-Fi setups, whether paid or free, don't have the luxury of > using passwords. That would defeat the purpose of allowing a great many > people to use them. > > T-Mobile, which charges about $10 a day for HotSpot use, is working to > get more people to use them. Last month, the company finished installing > a system at Los Angeles International Airport that covers 3.8 million > square feet of space, making it one of the largest Wi-Fi deployments in > the world. > > Also, free Wi-Fi hot spots are being added to more outdoor areas by > cities. Fullerton and Long Beach already have them, and there are plans > to install a system at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles. > > So, enjoy the freedom of Wi-Fi. But maybe you shouldn't surf to sites > you wouldn't want people to know you're visiting. > > "If you watch where people go, one site after another," Cheung said, > "it's almost like you can read their minds." > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > Copyright 2007 Los Angeles Times > > -- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SOCALWUG" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SOCALWUG SOCALWUG website: http://www.socalwug.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
