Zdnet recommends VPN to protect against Firesheep
Firesheep is the latest security threat to hit the internet and anyone using public Wi-Fi hotspots should REALY be concerned. Although it is based on traditional packet capturing, the makers of Firesheep managed to build a tidy little interface and plug-in for the Firefox browser making it one of the simplest hijacking tools ever. “Thanks to the Firefox plug-in Firesheep, anyone today can snoop on anyone else on the same network. Worst still, Firesheep enables any user to seamlessly hijack another user’s Web session” – Shearing Sheep Zdnet.com This doesn’t just mean they can only SEE what you are doing, they can now easily login AS YOU to any website you visited. Although solutions are popping up to help stop Firesheep snooping, they are not easy to implement. The networking blog at Znet.com recently mentions VPNs as a great way to protect yourself from faling victim to firesheep. “Far more so than many Wi-Fi security measures, application proxies, or the Web-based security measures …., a VPN can keep your information safe all the way from your laptop to servers and back again” – A VPN to call your own Zdnet.com
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My friend was one of the unfortunate victims of this Firesheep security threat. I’m honestly not surprised though, as she loved to log on to whatever WiFi connection she could find available.
Jerry, although it’s true that VPN services do not give real anonymity, I think that it’s still a very good step in the right direction towards being secure! Every little measure counts.
Paul P.
http://www.whitespaceinternational.com
I have always been scared to use Wi-Fi in the fear that someone might be able to get into my computer while i am on the internet. Especially if i am in at a starbucks or at school.
I would like to say that yes VPN services acts as a good defense but does not give real anonymity! Talk to a provider and see that they don’t beat around the bush about it. Many hold tracking logs of client usage. Some do so as a requirement of server area but don’t always say so openly. As well many software items send info out to the site connected, more than most realize. I have myself contacted many VPN service in many contries to see what they have to say. 1/2 ignored my query. Most of those that answered beat around the bush or used standard company lines to either avoid or in a show that there help people don’t know anything about the actual service. One answered and actually were interested in what could be done to make people more aware and possibly able to reduce these threats. I didn’t talk to everyone so do your own homework for what you see fit to use but be aware!