Posted on 07/25/2011 5:58:54 PM PDT by decimon
When you log on to a Wi-Fi network with a laptop computer, how much info about yourself do you reveal? I don't mean what you reveal to a cracker/hacker but to, say, the network administrator.
I'm not asking about porn or anything illegal but normal net surfing. I ask because of the proliferation of Wi-Fi hotspots. Some local government entities, like schools, can have unsecured access, you just log on.
What is meant by a “fresh ipod touch”?
I often surf with mine on public wi-fi while traveling.
Oh, please. You certainly are. Don't be perpetratin'.
Nope. But if you leave too much info behind then maybe someone else would and with your ID.
But even without that, I don't walk around with my driver's license pasted to my forehead so I see no good reason to leave any of my personal info on every server in creation.
Yep. I use StrongVPN for my needs. It's probably overkill in the US (free VPNs work), but it's the only one I've found works reliably around the world, so I can safely connect anywhere. And even stream Netflix, Hulu, and Pandora when abroad (it's fast enough for that kind of activity).
Took one click to download, one click to install, and copy-and-paste a few codes that were e-mailed to me, and it's easy to use. Select connect or disconnect as I desire.
>>The noise you now hear is the sound of a bump welling up on my head.<<
Been there.
I concur with these wise words!
At the time of log in, the network or anyone monitoring its traffic will see nothing other than your unique computer name, the type of device you are connecting with, the MAC address of your device, and the IP address that their DHCP handed out to you. BE VERY LEARY of public wi fi hot spots. Even a rank amateur hacker like myself can easily monitor network traffic, sniff out unencrypted packets and .... boom ... now I'm you - as far as your bank, Facebook, or any other site you just logged into is concerned. Use common sense - keep your financial data and other private info at home and don't access it from remote or open networks.
Thanks. Those appear to be more tools for the bad guys than for good guys wishing to not leave a trail.
That seems to be for being anonymous once past the Wi-Fi server.
Depends on what you mean by “cracker/hacker” and how you interpret the law. By strict interpretation of the law they can only legally know anything about you if you give them permission.
For example my Fortune 500 company cannot “catch” illegal penetration to our system by setting up an anonymous hotspot and monitoring users as they access it. It is illegal for us to monitor or record anything they do (at least our lawyers say that and I’ve talked to IT people at other companies who say the same). On the other hand there are laws saying we must record a lot of things.
A lot of the laws haven’t been tested, and a small hotspot admin won’t know or care. They will be able to watch anything you do. If you are secure (e.g. https or sftp) they can see what domains you look up but nothing else (e.g. they may know you tried to find www.IWantPorn.com and how many pages or files you requested/sent there but they won’t know more). If you are not secure they can see the full url or filename you request and any values you enter on forms. All of this, while technically illegal, would probably not get them in a lot of trouble. And they would be required to record it in some cases if they advertise their hotspot service.
Depending on your configuration they will be able to access your computer in ways that many people would not consider cracking/hacking. This would be considered illegal in most cases and you’d at least have a civil suit if they caused you problems.
With some easy-to-get cracker/hacker tools, a bored admin can access a lot of your system. The simple answer is that if you trust the operator, assume you are safe. And if you don’t trust them assume you are wide open.
Setting up VPN on a laptop would make you an anonymous user?
Since spending a weekend at the Las Vegas Trump Hotel with “free” wi-fi , my lap top is inundated with Trump ads
Those are mostly legitimate tools but can be misused. I posted to them to show you there are freely available tools which can be used. There are many more tools out there as well.
We use them to conduct white hat hacking for our customers to test their security.
If someone is on your network then you have rights to see anything they put on the network.
I’m still trying to find out more about what is known as white spaces wi-fi. It utilizes the unused bands on tv. I haven’t found out about the hardware needed to go that route. From what I understand, once you get the hardware, access to the net is free. Sure hope that’s so. Any help concerning white spaces would be greatly appreciated.
I’ve never used it. If its wireless than it will have the same problems IMO.
Tails, is designed to do what you are asking...
https://tails.boum.org/features/index.en.html
there are other options too, e.g. for dial-up connections and setting up VPNs although these will require further set-up in the “Options -> Configure...” section.
IF you set up a persistent thumb drive and set up a VPN to a your offsite vpn server pc, you will be as secure as your offsite vpn pc.
Geez, I may as well try to learn Chinese. I didn’t understand any of the computerspeak in the list of 100 tools. Can you recommend something way more basic to read? Thanks.
Depends what you are trying to do. All I was really trying to show is there are free tools available for cracking into any wireless network. Even if its encrypted. There are ways to make wireless networks more secure, but they are never as good as a wired network.
Most email applications use SSL connections (https://). That means that your whole email session, including the login/password process is encrypted between your computer and the destination computer.
Some do, some don’t. regardless you have to establish the network connection which frequently requires accepting a terms of use agreement. Getting the user to click on something is all it takes.
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