certainly harder, but not can't, VPNs are vulnerable to attacks just as any other protocol, so moreso than others.
a rogue AP pretending to be the hotspot you are logging in at can go a long way to grabbing data., after all most people presume the faults are theirs and not the networks and start trying all kinds of stuff to attach, usually lowering security guards especially when theres data they really need.
its nice to have a centralized place to attack such as hotspotpvn, where if you compromise their outgoing end , you've compromised everyone connecting via VPN to them (since their outgoing data won't be encrypted) and i think its a reasonable assumption to make that the majority of people going to the trouble of using a vpn for $10 a month have something worth while looking for.
it cetainly makes it more secure, but sometimes that feeling of extra security
can be a failing.
The solution to secure yourself while using an open wifi spot is fairly straightforward.
Use a secured VPN tunnel. AFAIK, most VPN systems are not vulnerable to the same kind of attacks that WEP/WPA come under.
I use a firm called HotspotVPN ( http://www.hotspotvpn.com/ ) to provide me
with security on the road. Connect to the WAP, then connect the VPN. All
anyone sees is encrypted traffic that can't be compromised with attacks
against the wireless aspect.
For less than $10 a month, it's money well spent.
-Michael
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