Security of Wi-Fi hotspots

[Evil_T0NY {CLR}]

Hi there, long time no see Cain's peeps...

Even though I hardly game anymore, except for the occasional "Free to play" stuff, I have a question.

I have a laptop, and I always wanted to be the "next generation" to use wi-fi hotspots at coffee shops or wherever.

However, I hear there's a serious security risk while doing this. That people, IF they have the right tools, can sit outside that cafe or in the cafe, and make a BE line straight into your computer files and you wouldn't even know it.

True, yes or no?

Simply cause there's no hard lines, just air waves.

[DougBob]

Well the truthful answer is yes it's a huge security issue. Even Ethical Hackers use these areas to practice the trade. It's so easy, with the right tools, to actually get into the laptop.

Now, will you be hacked into? That's a good question! I recommend when or if you use WiFi hotspots you try to pick the ones with some kind of Security Key and they preferably use WPA2 which is close to as good as you'll get.

Also ensure you're laptop has the latest patches installed!

If you can't find a hotspot that uses a secure connection or you don't want to both with it. Use a VPN connection that will encapsulate your network traffic leaving and entering your PC. There are many various VPNs subscribers you can use for a nominal fee of course. If you go this route, do not use connections based on PPTP protocols.

I personally have been using OpenVPN thru the subscriber reliablehosting. They cost me but I can secure my laptop traffic when needed. The only drawback to this solution is Tablets don't natively support the OpenVPN solution yet. You have to download and configure the OpenVPN client.

Now if you keep your laptop clean of personal information, credit card numbers, contact information and just keep it vanilla and don't care if it were lost because there is nothing on it to lose then it's not a problem.

I would highly suggest if you use you're laptop for this plain unsecure WiFi connection, you never type a password or userid or any related information without being connected to a https connection. This even includes Facebook. Make sure you have facebook configured to always use SSL aka https://www.facebook.com