Re: How safe / unsafe is Free Open WiFi?

[PCSC Information Services <info () pcsage biz>]

Hi Tony,

The use of any public network has inherent risks. The internet is a  
public network. When using Free/Open WiFi networks I would ensure that  
appropriate VPN access is made available if connecting to commercial  
assets. The use of Free/Open WiFi networks is not inherently more  
risky than ANY use of the Internet. What's critical to ensure is that  
any connectivity to assets that need to be kept secure is  
authenticated an connected in a secure way. Passwords must NEVER be  
sent in the clear, unless it is for a trivial or publicly accessible  
resource i.e. anonymous:anonymous () tld dom

In the absence of a PKI infrastructure these kinds of connectivity are  
risky in any context. It's important to remember that the Internet is  
a public network and that all connectivity across it is handled with  
the appropriate safeguards. To suggest that a hard line is more secure  
than WiFi fails to account for compromise in the wired network. The  
same type of attacks that are available in a WiFi network are also  
available over a line.

Best,

Sean Swayze



On 10-Mar-08, at 1:52 PM, BlogPatrol.com wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have what is probably a rather basic question:  Just how safe are  
> free, or open, WiFi networks that you find in Internet cafes,  
> Hotels, Airports, etc?  My personal opinion is that there are very  
> unsafe, but I do not have the technical expertise to explain to my  
> colleages why they are unsafe.
>
> Can anyone provide a summary, or a link to an article that provides  
> a summary, of why a laptop or PDA user should avoid using free and  
> open WiFi networks?
>
> Regards,
> Tony Nguyen
>
> Tony Nguyen, President
> BlogPatrol.com, Inc.
> support () blogpatrol com | http://www.blogpatrol.com | http://thepatrolblog.blogspot.com