[Davie]

I just got a laptop with built-in WiFi, and I'd like to be able to surf the web at some of the local "hot spots" but I'm concerned about security. Most of the practical info I've found in books and on-line concentrates on setting up your own wireless network, which I'm not interested in.

So can anyone give me some basic pointers about security issues involved in public access points? I'm getting the impression that you can't really count on any information you send over such a network to be secure. Is this true? If so, are there do's and don'ts that people go by (e.g., not sending passwords, checking sensitive e-mails, etc.)

Any advice or pointers to useful information sources would be appreciated.

 

[Stephonovich]

Good rule of thumb: if it's not your own, don't do anything you want to keep private. Even with encryption (especially WEP, which sadly, is still the majority), they can be broken very easily.

I admit to checking my email on public access nodes, but then, I don't care all that much about it. It's web based, I don't send or receive anything remotely important, and I could just as easily close it and open a new one.

But banking, personal notes, or anything of the sort? Leave that at home.

 

[azncookiecutter]

If you use WinXP on your laptop, best thing to do when using hotspots is to set the Windows Firewall to the maximum sercurity, meaning turning on the "no exceptions" rule. Other than that, there's not much oyu can do. Just make sure you don't do sensitive stuff on your laptop whie at a hotspot, such as banking and Paypal.

 

[Stephonovich]

While the Windows firewall isn't bad (so long as you keep up to date on the many, many patches... many patches...), if you're going to be using a public hotspot, it might be good to use one that offers logging capabilities. A good free one is Kerio. That way, you can see if anyone is attacking you. Truth be told, the chances are slim to none. Your average wardriver is only interested in free internet, which is already provided. The type of person apt to attack a random individual probably doesn't have the skills to successfully do so against all but the least defended computers.