Wireless Hotspot Security: A Hackers View

By: Eric Meyer
Submitted: 2007-01-17 15:50:34
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Hotspot hacking is more like fishing that anything else, it’s so easy you can just sit back and watch, read a book, or laugh at the traffic.

Using a wireless hotspot is like using a party line phone with many conversations going on. If you want to keep you internet traffic to your self just make sure it is encrypted. This isn’t an article about encryption but I will give you the motivation to encrypt your traffic.

What a hacker will see?

Email Accounts- If you are using a POP3 email account then your user name and password are sent in clear text. Also the body and subject line of your emails will be sent in clear text. Think of unencrypted traffic like a post card, if you want to read it just turn it over. To see unencrypted traffic a hacker will use a network sniffer and watch the packets go by. Sending personal emails with banking information is very common at hotspots. If you are always on the road you might be sending confidential company information in plain text. Find out today if you email traffic is encrypted or not.

Web traffic - Using a network sniffer a hacker can watch all the web pages being viewed at that hotspot. There are many programs that will show all the pictures on websites being viewed by hotspots users.

FTP Accounts – FTP ( File Transfer Protocol) does not use encryption. FTP is used to transfer files from one computer to another. If a webmaster stops at a wireless hotspot to upload files to his server using FTP, he is exposing his user name and password to the world. Webmasters should use SSH instead of FTP to upload files to their hosting account when using a wireless hotspot.

I’m not saying stop using wireless hotspots but you should be aware that someone could be watching your every move. Use encrypted emails or verify which one of your email accounts are encrypted. Finally use a firewall, encryption will protect your wireless traffic but the firewall will protect what’s on your hard drive.

Go to http://www.wirelessninja.com to see the little know secrets of deploying a secure wireless network. http://www.wirelessninja.com will soon become a paid memebers site but for a short time it is still free. Is your wireless network Simple and Secure?

Article source: Expert Articles