How secure IS Wi-Fi?

WEP is not secure. WPA is considered very secure.

When you use unsecure hotspots, you should have a firewall on and should not have shares available. If you are running any servers, they should be turned off. SSL connections are secure [if intercepted, the data are encrypted].

Nothing is completely secure, but with reasonable precautions, you don't need to be concerned.

By shares, I mean sharing any folders or drives on your system. You should turn that off.

You probably aren't running any servers if you don't know the meaning of the question, but servers can be, for example, a mysql database (or other such database server), a mail server, an FTP server, or perhaps a web server.

Normally, you don't run a server on a laptop or other system which is not connected permanently to the network, but I, for example, run a mysql server and the Apache web server for development purposes. If I am using a public access wireless network, I turn off those servers.

Message Edited by vanderwest on 04-03-2005 06:25 PM

When I click on the Sharing tab of the properties of my C:\  drive, it says:

"To protect your computer from unauthorized acces, sharing the root of a dirve is not recommended.  If you understand the risk but still want to share the root of the drive, click here."

Since I've never purposely change any folder or drive setting to "shared", I assume the default is "not shared".

Under my C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents folder, there are two folders.  Shared Music and Shared Pictures.  I did not create either of these folders (have never downloaded music and my pictures are not in the Shared Pictures folder).

Does that mean that I am not sharing anything (which would be what I would want)?

Thank you for your responses.

1. access a WEP or WPA secured network?

Wireless networking is secure to a point.  Either WEP or WPA will keep the majority of the world from finding out what you're sending.  That said, anyone trying to steal your CC info probably isn't most people.  WEP can be cracked somewhat easily -- it can be made more secure with newer WEP hardware and if the keys are changed often.

What people call WPA is a better option that corrects many of the security shortcomings of WEP.  It uses a common passphrase to encypt data.  Unfortunately, many passwords under 20 characters can be feasably cracked with dictionary based attacks. 

WPA2 (using AES) is even more secure and is not feasable to crack at this time.

Keep this in mind.  Any encryption scheme can be cracked.  It is a matter of processor power and time.  If you send something and someone is recording everything you send -- with a WPA network they won't crack it immediately, but they might get it eventually.  For the best wireless security, use WPA with passphrases over 20characters or better yet use WPA2

 

1. if you access an unsecured network (such as in a Library)?

It's easier to see what you're doing, but it's still out of the range of most people.  An attacker would need to be within range and snooping on your client (not the access point).  This said, it's not the safest place.

1. if you access websites that have Secure Socket Layering?

if you plan on using a lot of hotspots, or unsecured wireless connections what you would do is give yourself access to some sort of VPN connection.

If you have a Linksys WRT54G(S) you can get special firmware that has a PPTP server built in.

While PPTP is not perfect, it will encyrpt all of your data going back and forth and give you better security.

If you don't have access to a PPTP server, you could try www.hotspotvpn.com it is a pay service, but allows you that same security.

I won't connect to a hotspot without my PPTP connected first (other than logging in of course!)

I believe you can use it whever you like

I don't have hotspecvpn as I have access to a VPN server, so I would dorp them an email, they are very good at responding

If you sign up for a Hotspotvpn account, can you use that account on multiple machines or do you need to buy an account for every machine you use? For example, if I have a personal laptop, two company computers, or even accessing from a public PC from a library or Internet Cafe? It would be great if one account allows you to use your VPN account anywhere with any machine.