[Ramius]

I don't know if it is an attack on MS exactly... it really speaks to the inherent problems of 802.11x in general.

On a legit, but open, wifi network a user can still use their VPN and firewall to minimize the risk of the open wifi.

But attacks like this are after the casual or careless user anyway. A packet sniffer on the man-in-the-middle machine could harvest a wealth of stuff in no time.

[HawaiianGecko]

_hg

I live lakefront on a very large and popular lake and on the big weekends like the 4th of July when the lake is packed with boats, I open up my connection to the public, fire up CommView (packet sniffer) and watch boats congregate around my dock after a bit of war driving.  It's amazing to sift through data and see what people allow to travel through an unknown person's network.  It's even more fun to log the sites they visit.

I agree that having an open router to the net isn't dangerous if you know what you are doing. It's simple to secure your network, files and printers and other computers.  It's logging onto an unknown open network that'll get you in trouble.

I also agree that this doesn't have a darn thing to do with Microsoft.  IEEE 802.11 has nothing to do with MS.

 

[Star Traveler]

You said -- "A packet sniffer on the man-in-the-middle machine could harvest a wealth of stuff in no time."

Well, that's excellent. He may get a "wealth of an education" from the Free Republic articles...

Regards,
Star Traveler