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Wireless Internet Security: What can I do to protect myself on open wifi networks?
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Even though wireless networks can be hacked, you can protect yourself and have a safe Internet experience.
First of all, if you can, enable WPA2 on your wireless router. This will make you less of an obvious target. Now down to the the specifics:
Emails
Email programs like Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird or Mail for Mac often use POP3 style mailboxes. Check with your email provider and ask them about SSL. SSL is a way of encrypting all of your email communications. Note that some support only secure authentication, in which case a hacker won't get your password, but can still intercept emails.
Web
If using a web email like Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail, you can specify the SSL secure authentication setting. An easy way to see if your session is secure or not is to look at the URL. If it starts with https, then data is encrypted, otherwise, it's open for hackers to read.
FTP
Transferring files over FTP is a disaster waiting to happen. Someone consulted me because their site got hacked, and I was highly suspicious that it could have been due to using FTP over an open wireless network away from home. A much better way of doing things is to use SFTP - Secure FTP. Check with your web hosting provider and ask them if they support SSH and SFTP. If they do, ask them for a tutorial on how to set it up. Once that's done, it's just as easy to use as FTP, but much more secure.
So if I plug my computer directly into a network, my data is secure, right?
Not exactly, which brings us to the next article:
Continue to PART 4: Network Internet Security: Is my data safe over a wired internet connection?
Return to PART 2: Wireless Internet Security: How secure is FTP, my email and passwords? What about WEP/WPA2 routers?
Return to PART 1: Wireless Internet Security: Can Others Listen In On Your Secure Communications?
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