Securing access from an *hotspot*?

By definition *hotspots* are open networks. If I am using a hotspot,
say at McDonalds, how can I ensure my connection is safe from attack
to my laptop?

At home I am wired and safe.

"Tel" <limersongs@yaboo.com> wrote in message
news:1cfgj3dcrq4vr2m1p018ho7oihlqb4933o@4ax.com...
> By definition *hotspots* are open networks. If I am using a hotspot,
> say at McDonalds, how can I ensure my connection is safe from attack
> to my laptop?
>
> At home I am wired and safe.

software firewall. even windows firewall will do the job.

Tel <limersongs@yaboo.com> hath wroth:

>By definition *hotspots* are open networks.

Yep. Anyone can sniff your wireless traffic.

>If I am using a hotspot,
>say at McDonalds, how can I ensure my connection is safe from attack
>to my laptop?

VPN tunnel to your own machine or to a VPN service provider. See:
<http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi#VPN_Service_Providers>
for a shopping list.

Your ISP may also offer a VPN termination. Ask them. If they don't,
point them to:
<http://www.sonic.net/hotspots/portal/>
for an example of an ISP that cares about their customers wireless
security.

>At home I am wired and safe.

Actually, I've tapped into wired home and office systems with less
difficulty than wireless.

Hint: Make sure you know where all the cables going to your ethernet
switch end up. A local 14 year old aspiring hacker once tapped into
another neighbors ethernet switch with a long run of CAT5 cable to his
house, while he was playing babysitter. Somehow, they failed to
notice a bright blue ethernet cable running between the adjacent
houses. I noticed it mostly because he had stolen the CAT5 cable box
from my house. That was about 10 years ago. These days, he would
probably have installed a hidden (rogue) wireless access point in the
neighbors house.


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

> Hint: Make sure you know where all the cables going to your ethernet
> switch end up. A local 14 year old aspiring hacker once tapped into
> another neighbors ethernet switch with a long run of CAT5 cable to his
> house, while he was playing babysitter. Somehow, they failed to
> notice a bright blue ethernet cable running between the adjacent
> houses. I noticed it mostly because he had stolen the CAT5 cable box
> from my house. That was about 10 years ago. These days, he would
> probably have installed a hidden (rogue) wireless access point in the
> neighbors house.

Cripes, it's bad enough keeping 'em outta the liquor cabinet! Now I've got
to run arpwatch to keep them off the network too. Yeesh.