wireless network security while traveling
 

Any pearls of wisdom regarding using laptops on unsecured networks while traveling? I know in theory someone on the same net could record your keystrokes and capture passwords etc, but practically speaking is this a real concern for things like email accounts or similar? Has anyone had their accounts hijacked while traveling or is this more a theoretical problem than a real one?

Bill

no concerns if you leave the laptop at home! :)

I'll ask my husband (who knows much more about wireless security than I do) but as a short answer, we've taken our laptop with us on a couple of trips and not had any security issues when using wireless.

That said, we've usually had the laptop with us because I've needed to deliver a training presentation and/ or we needed to be able to process and share some of our photographs with other travellers and so we've not really bothered to connect to the internet very often.

Somone could hack into your laptop and steal information that might be vital.

Plus you dont want people peeping into your private documents or you comfortable people scanning your documents?

Also someone could spread a virus that could crash your laptop

<b>Somone could hack into your laptop and steal information that might be vital.</b>

No they can't, I have a firewall and virus protection. Also I keep no vital information on a laptop that I'm traveling with, in case it's stolen.

<b>Plus you dont want people peeping into your private documents </b>

With file-sharing turned off this cannot happen either.

<b>Also someone could spread a virus that could crash your laptop</b>

I have up-to-date virus software and a firewall so I'm not worried about this either.

Let's try this question again: on our home wireless network every computer uses encryption when sending to the wireless router, so even if someone in the neighborhood was listening in they couldn't understand what was said.

On an unsecured wireless network, like we get for free in a hotel or at some airports or coffee shops, there is no encryption so in theory someone with the right software could record what you are sending over the network. So for example if you have a gmail account they would be able to pick up your account name ID and password when you log in if they are willing to sift thru all the wireless transmissions. At least in theory.

So my question is how do frequent travelers handle this? Do you simply *never* log on to something that requires a password, do you use something like PGP encryption for emails, or do you simply hold your breath and wing it, hoping no one is sniffing passwords?

If you are in the last category have you experienced or heard of any one getting bitten by this, ie, someone getting an email address with password and using it for spamming or whatever?

I think we'll probably just put a special password on an account and access that one account while we're on the road, then change the password back once we're home on the secure net. But I was wondering how much the risk was, whether it's a one-in-a-million shot someone will sniff it out or if you're at say the Amsterdam Airport it's 1-in-10 or better odds?

Bill

Bill: I'm hoping you get a response on this - I've traveled with my laptop the last 2 major trips I've been on (Africa &amp; SE Asia) and will be bringing it with me to Italy next week. I've never used any special encription, so I definatley fall in the &quot;hold my breath and wing it&quot; category. So far, nothing has happened, and I check my financial records &amp; email accounts regularly. I guess I hope that the &quot;secure&quot; pages are truly secure...probably naive.

Cyn

Hi Cyn,

I'm not trying to scare people, just trying to get a feel for if this is a 'real-world' problem or a 'theoretical' problem puffed up by the people selling security products. That you haven't had any problems is the kind of info I'm looking for.

Here are two articles on wireless at places like Starbucks and in hotel rooms (I didn't think to bring an ethernet cable for the hotel room, duh!) which you might find interesting, with info on turning off file-sharing.

http://antivirus.about.com/od/wirele.../starbucks.htm
http://antivirus.about.com/od/securi...bizcenters.htm

Bill

I usually use the unsecured networks and don't really worry about it. I don't have any I use regularly, if my password gets hacked it's a small risk I'm willing to take.

At home, my wireless network is secured to avoid someone hacking into it and stealing that sort of information.

One (relatively) easy way to avoid this is to use a VPN. You can set up your home computer to act as a secure server of sorts. Then, using the unsecure network, you log in securely to your home network. For me, PGP is rather complicated. I can use SSH to set up a secure connection to home, then use that encryption over the unsecure travelling network. Even this is a bit complicated, you will have to have moderate computer skills to set it up. But once done, it is an easy way to secure this kind of connection.

You do need some special software (downloadable for free), I have an ssh client on my laptop, at home I have cygwin running an ssh server, and squid running as a Windows service. The ssh server and client is what sets up the secure connection. Squid is what tells your home computer where to go from there, something normally done by the unsecure network you would otherwise be using.

There are other options for software too, but these tools were free.

Good luck.

If you are only concerned about sending and receiving email (or checking into a site), Nairobi hotels and most of the larger lodges and camps give computer access for about 15 cents for ten minutes. (Samburu doesn't). If that is all you need, leave the laptop at home.

<b>I usually use the unsecured networks and don't really worry about it.</b>

Thanks Carl, that's the kind of info I was looking for ... I think I'll pass on routing via my home wireless while on the road :)

kenyatraveler wrote <b>If you are only concerned about sending and receiving email ... Nairobi hotels and most of the larger lodges and camps give computer access</b>

Actually I bring the laptop to download digital images and make a first pass edit on them, accessing sites or email is less important to me.

Bill