WLAN Security

Am not 100% sure if this is the correct forum but will go ahead anyway.Does anyone know how to secure wlan connections when your on the road.I have no wish when in my hotel room for my communications to be read by anyone else than they are intended for.


Regards PeterB

 

yep..give me more detials what you want to do..

if you are travelling or living in a hotel with a hotspot..its usually secured..because they are not free..i mean except for the hotel customers..

 

I travel from Germany to Switzerland and Austria and the hotels I stay in have a free wlan service which I just log into and go online.

 

then usually its not possible to secure them as the AP or the hotspot has to be secured to enable security..

but normally noone would sneak into your data packets..way to too much waste unless you happen to be a billionare or work for MI5 lol..

 

Reading packets off an unencrypted wireless connection is childs play. There are easy to use tools available for Windows and Linux.

So if you read your email via a POP3 account over unencrypted wireless anybody in the area could be also reading your email, and collecting your email password and account name so they can continue to read your email.

Always use encrypted protocols when using unencrypted wireless. HTTPS, POP3 over SSL or better yet a VPN tunnel back to your home network or office.

One good option is to put a linux box on your broadband at home with squid proxy and you can bounce everything out through that connection all over ssh (port 22).

Google for ssh tunnel, vpn, linux etc. I cannot post links yet.

And don't be fooled by WEP it is far from secure! Its a 5 - 10 min job to break.

If you want secure wireless access you either use encrypted protocols as mentioned above or WPA and derivatives.

One last thing if you use gmail. Use https gmail dot google dot com to logon. Then all your traffic is going over https, both logon details and your email.