On Wed, 02 Nov 2005 19:27:58 -0500, Anonymous <no.email@bad.domain>
wrote:

>I have a WiFi Home Network, and I often VPN in to work. My laptop has
>WiFi support, so could I use the WiFi to VPN in to work? How much of a
>security threat would that be? I'm told that the whole point of VPN is
>to protect the data in an unsecured medium (e.g: Internet), so can I do
>this without compromising my security? How much greater a threat is
>this, compared to using an Ethernet cable?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>Anonymous

Your Home WiFi most likely has a medium-grade encryption feature (If
you have it turned on). VPN also uses encryption (it's the whole
point of Virtual Private Networking), possibly even with a higher
grade-harder to crack encryption method.

With any wireless system, you run the risk of having a neighbor or
someone parked outside your house intercepting your packets. Whether
they can do anything about decrypting those packets is debatable. My
own personal opinion is that it is possible but not very likely. On
the other hand, if the person with the laptop in the car is an NSA,
CIA or FBI technician, maybe they can. Of course, if they want it
that badly, they can probably tap your cable connection as well.

During WWII the Germans were encrypting their wireless naval and land
army communication with a system called Enigma. They were absolutely
convinced that it could not be cracked under any circumstances. Even
after the Axis lost the war, they couldn't bring themselves to think
that their war traffic was compromised. The fact is that the British
broke the codes (aided by the Poles and the French), and kept it
secret for many years.

Conservative practice would be not to use WiFi wireless for secured
computer networking unless the convenience and economic factors
dictate that there is no other way. There are dozens of news stories
about guys driving around the country finding UNSECURED WiFi
connections coming from regular businesses and individuals. Can you
imagine a company broadcasting all their e-mail secrets and financial
information in the clear?

A hard wire Internet Connection probably lets most System
Administrators sleep better at night, again, though, with the
understanding that there is no absolute protection.

Beachcomber