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At home I use my desktop computer for work and school. But now I want to start using my laptop at a public hot spot or two: coffee shops, the library, the airport, McDonald's, etc. That means I'll be going on the Internet via wi-fi on a regular basis. You know that wi-fi is super unsecure, very unsecure. I understand that when it comes to safe surfing a VPN (virtual private network) is the first thing a security minded person should have on their laptop.
a) Is that true?
b) If so, can you recommend the name of a good VPN?
c) will the VPN slow down my surf sessions compared to the hard wired connection I use at home?
d) one person said that a VPN is NOT the way to go. Check this out: he said that all I need is a good firewall and a good anti-virus protection program when I go wireless in public. That sounds a little nuts. Does that sound crazy? That sounds like a prescription for a virtual suicide. Of course I have both already in place, but is that to say that that's all you need to guard against packet sniffers when you're wireless? Do you agree or disagree with his statement?
Depends on what you're doing. If your work involves anything confidential, then yes, a VPN is a must.
On the other hand, if I'm just surfing the web and don't care if someone spies on what I'm doing, then a VPN is unnecessary. Of course if you're doing financial stuff, like online banking, that stuff's going to be encrypted anyway, so you don't have to worry about packet sniffers on that front.
Depends on what you're doing. If your work involves anything confidential, then yes, a VPN is a must.
On the other hand, if I'm just surfing the web and don't care if someone spies on what I'm doing, then a VPN is unnecessary. Of course if you're doing financial stuff, like online banking, that stuff's going to be encrypted anyway, so you don't have to worry about packet sniffers on that front.
Interesting perspective. Got me wondering if Gmail is encrypted. Turns out it is, but according to a commenter named 'Dan Bloemer', you still may be vulnerable even though Gmail is encrypted. Read Dan Bloemer's comment at the end of this short article: Google makes Gmail encryption simple | Geek.com
Sure, but that vulnerability has nothing to do with being on a wireless network.
If you're on a public wireless network, and you're using https, a packet sniffer isn't going to be able to decrypt your packets. The email you send and receive through Gmail this way is not going to be spied on by someone on your wireless network.
What Bloemer was getting at is that once the message gets to Gmail's servers, it's no longer encrypted. That means that someone on the receiving end of your email who doesn't have a secure connection could have their email spied on, including the email that you sent to them.
This scenario has nothing to do with the network that you're on, and everything to do with the network the recipient of your email is on.
I guess the best way to think about this is not really a wired vs. wireless thing, but rather an overall security levels thing.
A wireless connection is not that different from a wired connection. Both of them can be packet sniffed. The only difference is that a wireless connection is more public, since anyone in the surrounding area can log on, compared to a wired connection that someone must be tethered to.
You shouldn't be conducting confidential business unencrypted over ANY unsecured connection, wired or wireless.
For stuff like, say, posting to City-Data (not confidential obviously), if you're comfortable doing it on an unsecured wired connection, there's nothing wrong with doing it on an unsecured wireless connection.
If you're logging in to your home computer or work computer remotely from a laptop in a coffee shop, a secured VPN would be appropriate. But if all you're doing online is checking Facebook or using sites that are encrypted anyway, like bank sites and Gmail, I think a VPN is overkill.
Interesting perspective. Got me wondering if Gmail is encrypted. Turns out it is, but according to a commenter named 'Dan Bloemer', you still may be vulnerable even though Gmail is encrypted. Read Dan Bloemer's comment at the end of this short article: Google makes Gmail encryption simple | Geek.com
It's very well known (I stop just short of using the term "common knowledge") that SMTP is NOT a secure transmission protocol. Nobody should EVER send any sensitive information in an e-mail, unless that information is somehow protected (PGP, encrypted ZIP, etc). E-mail messages are sent server to server in clear text over the wire.
As pcity said, though, this has nothing to do with wireless vs. wired.
I would say that unless you're doing hyper-sensitive work, you don't really have anything to be concerned about. And if you are doing work where security concerns are that big of an issue, then you shouldn't be using a portable computer in the first place. I'd be much more concerned about my laptop being stolen than someone breaking the encryption on my wireless connection or SSL session.
To use it, you need a VPN server to connect to and redirect the traffic. There are companies out there which provide the service ("personal vpn service"), or if you're ambitious enough (and know enough about all the network protocols, setting up static IPs or dynamic DNS services, setting up the software, etc.), you can set up your own server.
At home I use my desktop computer for work and school. But now I want to start using my laptop at a public hot spot or two: coffee shops, the library, the airport, McDonald's, etc. That means I'll be going on the Internet via wi-fi on a regular basis. You know that wi-fi is super unsecure, very unsecure. I understand that when it comes to safe surfing a VPN (virtual private network) is the first thing a security minded person should have on their laptop.
a) Is that true?
b) If so, can you recommend the name of a good VPN?
c) will the VPN slow down my surf sessions compared to the hard wired connection I use at home?
d) one person said that a VPN is NOT the way to go. Check this out: he said that all I need is a good firewall and a good anti-virus protection program when I go wireless in public. That sounds a little nuts. Does that sound crazy? That sounds like a prescription for a virtual suicide. Of course I have both already in place, but is that to say that that's all you need to guard against packet sniffers when you're wireless? Do you agree or disagree with his statement?
Firewall/AV protects your computer, it doesn't really protect the data you send once it leaves your computer. And while a VPN does that, it does it by establishing an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a remote network. So to utilize a VPN, you'll need to set this up on both sides of the tunnel - its not quite something you just install on your computer and start surfing.
As for public networks - yes, SSL sessions will protect you from those sitting next to you trying to "sniff" your traffic. However, keep in mind that you still are using someone else's network (and this applies to wired or wireless) - so, you are still passing your traffic through a gateway that you don't own (or trust), in which a man in the middle attack can be easily established.
In essence, depending on how paranoid you are... the best bet is really NOT to do any personal business from a public network unless you can be confident that the path is secure all the way to the destination.
I know this thread is old but what is VPN and how do I use wi-fi safely to do banking, shopping, paypal, hotmail etc when traveling?
In general terms: VPN = Virtual Private Network. I can use VPN software supplied by my employer to connect to the office network from anywhere on the Internet and have access to internal resources, like shared folders, intranet sites, etc. The software has to match the software on the other end.
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