WifiEveryone has probably heard the hype about how bad unsecured wireless networks are.  As tools become more sophisticated for exploiting wifi vulnerabilities, it is probably important to remember the importance of taking protective measures when plugging into an unsecured hotspot. 

An article over at the truckthis blog caught my eye which basically demonstrates exactly how one would perform a technique where packets are sniffed and data contained within cookies is then replicated on a rogue machine basically granting that machine whatever access you have at the associated site.  Many sites use cookies, sites like popular webmail accounts for instance!  Imagine you sign onto your gmail account and then 5 minutes later, someone else is signed on as you with complete access to your email account.

Protect Yourself

The best thing to remember when connecting to unsecured networks is simple:

  1. Make sure your firewall is turned on (in XP, this is in the control panel)
  2. Make sure you use a VPN connection if possible, this encrypts your traffic across the network even over unsecured connections
  3. If you want to get really secure, you could clear your cookies before signing onto an open wifi network and when signing onto websites, do not check the box “remember me.”  This usually will prevent it from storing a cookie.  The other option is to turn cookies off entirely for your session.
  4. Disconnect your computer from the network when you are not using it, this limits your exposure

I’ve not had time to do much hacking these days, but I remember when wifi first started coming of age toying with some of the wardriving tools that were available I was amazed at how anyone who spent an hour or so toying around could become a real threat.  With blogs ever increasing in popularity, there are many hackers and known methods published all over the net.  I always tell people, the best thing you can do is practice safe computing and use some common sense!

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