WiFi how secure is it away from home.

[rustic]

Hi I just bought an Acer net book with windows 7, and it is great, I can now work in the lounge, and watch the football.......:doh
Here is the question, how secure are free Wifi locations at places like McDonalds, Hotels, outside someones house on open WiFi etc
How do you know it is their site and not someone with a laptop filtering them?
Do you need the key code for these sites?
Any help appreciated.
best regards,
Rustic

[larson]

i dont think theres anything 100%. but im sure most people wouldnt be clever enough to be hacking. just be carefull what you go on. i think all you can do is make sure your security is up to date..

im sure they will be an expert along anytime

larson

[jims-terrano]

In theory once your connected to a network you can use some software such as Wire Shark that will sniff the network and save data to a text file. This data can contain such things as what I'm typing now to the passwords I type or are used by Outlook Excuse. As such no fire wall would protect that data from being seen.
I'm sure there will be some form of security in place but I personally wouldn't trust them. For every person that is clever enough to write software to keep your computer secure there is someone equally as clever to write code to hack. The same goes for Anti Virus software.
If you really can't live without internet whilst your out and about you may be better buying a mobile broadband gadget. I got a Vodaphone version that is pay as you go. Got it for £30 inc £15 of credit and as long as I use it once in every 90 days it doesn't run out.

Jim

[clivvy]

Wire shark will certainly do it, also if they have a fancy router but most places don't. Not 100% secure but there's lots you can do to encrypt and protect your own data, but traffic flowing through their network can be monitored, that's free wifi hotspots for you, it's public.

[jims-terrano]

Why don't we just install wire Shark and go for a Macky D and see what we can see :naughty

Jim

[clivvy]

good idea! be interesting to see what we can..er...see...

[rustic]

Thanks for the information, I didn't realise how public the open WiFi is.
My main computer picked up a Trojen last week and I realised something was happening when it was down loading an updated virus protection system, so I pulled the ethernet plug and tried to run McAfee only to find out it had been partially deleted. I deleted any folders that had been changed, and tried to download McAfee from the BT web site, BUT off it went to connect to the trojen web site. I then restarted the computer only to find the computer crashed so the only solution was to reload the system start up disc, again on startup it tried again to link to the trojen site again, this time I noticed several new icons on the startup screen linking to " undesirable sites"
It could have been worse, it could have been a Land Rover site.:doh
The computer is now at a PC shop to clear the computer of all trash.
The next option would have been a total format of the hard drive, and then hope I have all the drivers.... :nenau

I have backed up ALL my data on a seperate hard drive, so if your computer is used for data, photos, etc think what would happen if you lost ALL your data. Back it up.:thumbs

Thanks again for your contributions.
Rustic

[clivvy]

ah rustic, you had spyware mate. If you had said, id have been happy to have a go at fixing it for you remotely, I have to do this sort of thing most days for our customers. Let me know if you get stuck again, only too happy to help.

[rustic]

ah rustic, you had spyware mate. If you had said, id have been happy to have a go at fixing it for you remotely, I have to do this sort of thing most days for our customers. Let me know if you get stuck again, only too happy to help.

Hi Clivvy, thanks for the offer, but at the time catch 22, no way of using the Net, but now I have the net book, I am now on the net from the lounge.
I expect to get it back next week, so watch this space.
£30 by PC World to fix it.... so not that bad, but £220 on a net book. Pleased with it so Far. Battery life in excess of 6 hours..

So is this site worth £10 a year, you bet it is.:clap
Regards, Rustic

[Freebird]

What a ball ache, had the same on the desktop a couple of weeks ago, man did it twist my melon man, but got it sorted in the end.:thumb2

[Darwin]

Wi Fi is NOT secure. :lol

[rustic]

We take the computer for granted, it was like having my left arm cut off not being able to get on the net, even looking up phone numbers and locations of computer companies was impossible, I used yellow pages first time in 5 years..
The kids are no longer at home, so no alternative access.
Having WiFi means we aren't at risk from lightning, last year we had a local strike which took out the Hub,answer phone and 2 phones, the power supply on the hub passed 240 Volts to the output, luckily I had disconnected the ethernet only 5 minutes before.
Regards,
Rustic

[jims-terrano]

Rustic, a home WIFI Network is safe enough if you have it secured. IE you need to input a WEP/WPA Key to connect a device. It's the public things you shouldn't connect to.

Jim

[clivvy]

public is unsecured unless you request a key, but i dont think many public places do that now, they used to (like on Virgin trains etc) but now, probably due to iPhones etc, you just come along, spot the wifi and connect freely. In doing so, you are connected to their network, along withother people who could then attempt to hack your device-hence the importance of firewalls and security software etc,...

[Darwin]

Rustic, a home WIFI Network is safe enough if you have it secured. IE you need to input a WEP/WPA Key to connect a device. It's the public things you shouldn't connect to.

Jim

WEP is not secure.

[rustic]

WEP is not secure.
Looks like I could be connecting via ethernet for secure transactions then.
I'm really glad I asked the question, before using my credit card.
Regards,
Rustic

[briggie]

thought this might interest you clive ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/10349001.stm

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

so how unsecure is WEP then, based on it stands for wired equivalent protection I believe.
At 128 bit encryption who is going to intercept and break it down? MI5?

Still if doubt cable up.

My Orange Livebox modem router uses wep @128b, adding a new machine to the network
it wont accept it with the key unless the pairing button is pressed on the live box so you
have to be with it first time, handy if the code did fall into someone else's hands.

[Darwin]

WEP (Wireless Encryption Protocol)



Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a security protocol, specified in the IEEE Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) standard, 802.11b, that is designed to provide a wireless local area network (WLAN) with a level of security and privacy comparable to what is usually expected of a wired LAN. A wired local area network (LAN) is generally protected by physical security mechanisms (controlled access to a building, for example) that are effective for a controlled physical environment, but may be ineffective for WLANs because radio waves are not necessarily bound by the walls containing the network.

WEP seeks to establish similar protection to that offered by the wired network's physical security measures by encrypting data transmitted over the WLAN. Data encryption protects the vulnerable wireless link between clients and access points; once this measure has been taken, other typical LAN security mechanisms such as password protection, end-to-end encryption, virtual private networks (VPNs), and authentication can be put in place to ensure privacy.

In recent months WEP has been shown to be succeptable to attacks and is now considered unsuitable for Enterprise-Level Wireless Security.

[Darwin]

WEP (Wireless Encryption Protocol)


Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a security protocol, specified in the IEEE Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) standard, 802.11b, that is designed to provide a wireless local area network (WLAN) with a level of security and privacy comparable to what is usually expected of a wired LAN. A wired local area network (LAN) is generally protected by physical security mechanisms (controlled access to a building, for example) that are effective for a controlled physical environment, but may be ineffective for WLANs because radio waves are not necessarily bound by the walls containing the network.

WEP seeks to establish similar protection to that offered by the wired network's physical security measures by encrypting data transmitted over the WLAN. Data encryption protects the vulnerable wireless link between clients and access points; once this measure has been taken, other typical LAN security mechanisms such as password protection, end-to-end encryption, virtual private networks (VPNs), and authentication can be put in place to ensure privacy.

In recent months WEP has been shown to be succeptable to attacks and is now considered unsuitable for Enterprise-Level Wireless Security.

WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)


Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2) is a class of systems to secure wireless (Wi-Fi) computer networks. It was created in response to several serious weaknesses researchers had found in the previous system, Wireless Encryption Protocol (WEP).

WPA is designed to work with all wireless network interface cards, but not necessarily with first generation wireless access points. WPA2 implements the full standard, but will not work with some older network cards.

[rustic]

Thanks Darwin for spending the time to explain that, when I go to the bank they are surprised that I do not use internet banking, if I had I would have been panicking last week when that Trogan got into my system.
We use telephone banking to transfer small amounts to a seperate account that we use for a debit card, to save on Credit card transaction fees, with fraud they can only get what is there... Not much.
The Ken Dodd method of banking in this current climate of low interest, looks preferable. ( ie keep it under the matress.... )

[clivvy]

your banks internet site, and your accoutn access through it, is secure, genrally you will be ok so long as no one is looking over your shoulder as you type your decurity keys etc, but that goes without saying.

as for wep etc, perfectly fine for home use, even for small business, but most companies now use WPA-EPA, and require mac address filtering, quite simply at the moment, an outsider cant connect to the network. There is lots more you can do to ensure security, its just most people dont bother because its a ball ache. at home, i use mac filtering, WPA AND my wireless is invisible, so I dont get hacked!