Morn'in,
I am familiar with and have used secure VPN connections to a company host system via a wireless system. But, this is a dedicated connection via and with VPN that has been setup with user data to ensure both ends of the system of a verified user.
I/we have had little need to use our WiFi enabled laptop at a Starbuck's or such; and of course, just about every hotel/motel has WiFi ability, too.
I recall, from several years ago watching a tv program (the most wonderful, "Call for Help") and a special segment when WiFi was in the infant stage; and tech'ies driving around looking for unsecured WiFi spots and using a program to capture account data of all kinds.
One surely does not want even the slightest intrusion into our online world; even to the aspect of sign in here MFO.
Is there any method to enable a WiFi user to perform a secure WiFi connection?
Thank you for your time with this question and area of concern.
Regards,
Catch
Comments
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2010/sep/16/internet-wifi-security-ask-jack
http://www.esecurityplanet.com/views/article.php/3839986/Being-Secure-on-Public-Wi-Fi-VPN-Firewalls-File-Sharing.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/remotely/hotspots.aspx
I bet Investor will chime in. P.S. Investor what would be some examples of embedded network devices you are familiar with?
This is actually a bit complex. I'll try to make it simpler.
First as a general rule never have any computer connected to the internet without a firewall to secure it. For laptops you need personal firewall software. Luckily, most modern OS comes with one and most anti-virus packages include one as well (you can get McAfee Total Protection as low as $10-15 at buy.com). Keeping your OS and Apps up to date also helps against attacks and should not be ignored.
Most of the Wi-fi hotspots are behind a hardware firewall or at least NAT (Network Address Translation) which acts as firewall as well so the possibility of attack from Internet side is minimal. In other words, your protection status from Internet side is pretty much close to what you have at home.
You are more at risk from other users in the hotspot.
You have mentioned VPN, your concern is probably eavesdropping (snooping) in the sensitive data by other users as VPN is not going to protect direct attack from other users. That is what the firewall is for.
So, what is the situation for your data privacy as its being communicated?
The real risk could be other users in the hotspot as it is the likely place where they can observe other users traffic. Some free Wifi places offer different temporary passwords to each user and encrypt their wifi connection. However, most free wifi is open (no encryption).
One option is to setup a VPN server at your home and surf the internet through this VPN connection. It could be complicated depending on your technical skills.
Alternatively you can connect to VPN at work, if you have that option.
There are also other VPN service providers for use at hotspots. For example take a look at http://www.publicVPN.com. It charges $7 for one month and $70 for a year of service. I have not used this service. If you search for it there are other services like this.
If you do not use a VPN but concerned, you are generally safe if you restrict your activity to just web browsing and avoiding logging into accounts that require user credentials. I would also avoid using a local email client as most email client-server communication could be in plain-text (sometimes the whole communication is secured, sometimes only the password exchange is secured, most of the time, not secure).
You can relax web surfing concerns if you are using secure sites that begin with https:// as the communication is encrypted. However, there was vulnerability a year ago that some web sites were not properly guarding their cookies (a secure web site that is not marking its cookies secure so the contents stored in the cookies could be read by snooping users). I am not sure how prominent this problem is with Financial sites.
Howdy Investor,
Thank you very much for your time and effort with this question; and the possible solutions. I/we were aware of potential security issues; and trying to discover the best possible method of protection.
You have surely saved a few folks from having their WiFi connections "snooped"; as I am not confident that all that many folks are aware of potential personal data stealing when using connections that are not home based with firewalls and proper setup.
Although we don't use any of the new phones/mobile devices; I am sure there are many users who don't know their connections with these too, may be "naked" to those who are always snooping and looking for the non-secured connections.
I am always able to find several WiFi connections in our neighborhood that are not secure; as the users are sitting safe inside their homes connected from their laptops into their home system before everything leaves on their cable modem system; and they feel "safe".
Take care,
Catch
Howdy Accipiter,
Thank you for your time and effort with the links. We are looking through various options to secure WiFi connections as the need arises going forward. In the wayback days of early (laptop AIR CARDS via cell towers) and what is today the 3G network style connections; we did have and use a VPN setup that allowed us to have secure wireless connections, and would likely have to pursue a similar setup today.
Take care,
Catch
Again, I should emphasize that the likelihood of someone snooping is actually low. There are many many hotspots and relatively few data snoopers. It is a low probability but high impact (consequences).
Personally, I do not feel bad using this site on public wifi. I do not put my own sensitive information here and I use a password that is different than my financial and shopping site passwords.