I am planning on purchasing a new laptop for traveling. However, I have
conserns about using the wireless hookups in hotels and airports for
security reasons. I will be using the computer for stock trading and I must
have a 100% secure connection.
Please share your thoughts about security with me.
Thanks,
Steve

"Esteban" <swanasek@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:SKN%g.22954$6S3.20147@newssvr25.news.prodigy. net...
>I am planning on purchasing a new laptop for traveling. However, I have
>conserns about using the wireless hookups in hotels and airports for
>security reasons. I will be using the computer for stock trading and I
>must have a 100% secure connection.
> Please share your thoughts about security with me.
> Thanks,
> Steve
>

For 100% security in public hotspots, there is only one answer: disable the
wireless card.

You can disable file sharing, but using an open hotspot will still leave you
vulnerable to packet sniffers.

There is absolutely no way to have 100% security at public hotspots.

Bobby

Esteban wrote:
> I am planning on purchasing a new laptop for traveling. However, I have
> conserns about using the wireless hookups in hotels and airports for
> security reasons. I will be using the computer for stock trading and I must
> have a 100% secure connection.
> Please share your thoughts about security with me.

When using a hotspot, you want to have a VPN connection to your ISP.

Some ISPs include VPN free (Sonic.net), some charge for it, and some
only offer it to business customers.

There are some other ways to get it too:

"http://www.hotspotvpn.com/" ($90 per year)
"http://www.iopus.com/ipig/download/" Free, though they now limit your
MB, then start selling you more bandwidth.

"SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:453fb2c5$0$88680$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...
> Esteban wrote:
>> I am planning on purchasing a new laptop for traveling. However, I have
>> conserns about using the wireless hookups in hotels and airports for
>> security reasons. I will be using the computer for stock trading and I
>> must have a 100% secure connection.
>> Please share your thoughts about security with me.
>
> When using a hotspot, you want to have a VPN connection to your ISP.
>
> Some ISPs include VPN free (Sonic.net), some charge for it, and some only
> offer it to business customers.
>
> There are some other ways to get it too:
>
> "http://www.hotspotvpn.com/" ($90 per year)
> "http://www.iopus.com/ipig/download/" Free, though they now limit your MB,
> then start selling you more bandwidth.
Thanks SMS, is there a quick and easy way to tell if sbcglobal.net has VPN?
Or should I contact them directly?

Esteban wrote:

> Thanks SMS, is there a quick and easy way to tell if sbcglobal.net has VPN?
> Or should I contact them directly?

They don't offer it on residential accounts.

AFAIK, it's only the smaller ISPs that offer it to residential
customers. I.e., in Northern California, Sonic.net includes it with all
accounts. It's a very useful feature if you're using public hotspots and
want to do anything secure. It's also useful with some of the free
public networks that are ad-supported, as it eliminates the advertising
re-direction.

Most companies that have employees log into the company's servers use VPN.

If you contact SBC directly they probably will have no idea what you're
talking about.

I support Wireless and Wired Hotels across North America. Hotels are
one of the many clients my company supports everyday. Secure?
absolutely not but nothing really is. People can hack into the CIA
w/ proper motivation and knowledge.

If you're worried about your day-trading account getting highjacked
and people getting into your financials, I would tell you to go ahead
but don't have any of your passwords remembered for the sites which
are most important to you, and have an updated reputable software
firewall. I would say router but for the Hotels which I support,
when we see them we ban em and we do alot of the major ones. Tech
term for them is "travel router". Once you're done doing
business, disco from the internet and you should be fine.

GL
- Wanzi

Esteban wrote:
> I am planning on purchasing a new laptop for traveling. However, I have
> conserns about using the wireless hookups in hotels and airports for
> security reasons. I will be using the computer for stock trading and I must
> have a 100% secure connection.
> Please share your thoughts about security with me.
> Thanks,
> Steve
>
>

It really makes no difference whether your laptop is plugged in to your
wired Internet at home or a wireless Internet hookup at a hotel. Either
way you should only use a stock trading site that uses a secure
connection (with the little key in your browser window) - and I would
guess they all do.

"timeOday" <timeOday-UNSPAM@theknack.net> wrote in message
news:EamdnRsJeJAF3N3YnZ2dnUVZ_q6dnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
> Esteban wrote:
>> I am planning on purchasing a new laptop for traveling. However, I have
>> conserns about using the wireless hookups in hotels and airports for
>> security reasons. I will be using the computer for stock trading and I
>> must have a 100% secure connection.
>> Please share your thoughts about security with me.
>> Thanks,
>> Steve
>
> It really makes no difference whether your laptop is plugged in to your
> wired Internet at home or a wireless Internet hookup at a hotel. Either
> way you should only use a stock trading site that uses a secure connection
> (with the little key in your browser window) - and I would guess they all
> do.

Plugged in to a wired router is safe...someone would have to have physical
access to the router or network. Wireless is another matter altogether.
Most, if not all, open WiFi hotspots use no encryption at all, so they are
ripe for abuse such as packet sniffers, etc. I would not use a public WiFi
hotspot for day trading, but that is my personal choice...I would also not
use it to make purchases, log into sensitive websites, etc., even if they
are a "secure" connection, a false sense of security on a public network.

You would be amazed at what can be found on "internet cafe" computers, as
well as the display models at your local computer store if that computer
store has internet access. I have found credit card numbers, login/username
pairs for banks, login/username pairs for internet providers, etc. There
are freely available utilities that will located these in the maze of files
that windows creates, and will even allow you to read the actual passwords
(not the asterisks).

Using a public hotspot means that you should assume someone is watching what
you are doing (packet sniffing, capture), and you should not log into a site
that you would not want anyone else to have access to. It is simple as
that. Anyone who tells you different is either uninformed or does not care
about security over convenience.


Honu

"Hertz_Donut" <nowhere@mindspring.com> wrote:

>Most, if not all, open WiFi hotspots use no encryption at all,

Dumb question...but does that encryption have to be
turned on on the router side? Or can I just turn it
on via my laptop side?


If there is no way I can turn it on from my
laptop...what abt just using everything with PGP?

"Hertz_Donut" <nowhere@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:4fydnWEJ8_ujBd3YnZ2dnUVZ_tGdnZ2d@hawaiiantel. net
> You would be amazed at what can be found on "internet cafe"
> computers, as well as the display models at your local computer store
> if that computer store has internet access. I have found credit card
> numbers, login/username pairs for banks, login/username pairs for
> internet providers, etc...

Why are you looking at other people's information Honu?

--
Bill

<me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:gqh1k29kqi6b5mvkd565s7bdgni9mpir2a@4ax.com
> "Hertz_Donut" <nowhere@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>> Most, if not all, open WiFi hotspots use no encryption at all,
>
> Dumb question...but does that encryption have to be
> turned on on the router side?

Yes!

> Or can I just turn it
> on via my laptop side?

You can turn it on, but it won't do you any good.

> If there is no way I can turn it on from my
> laptop...what abt just using everything with PGP?

VPN is what most recommend for this sort of thing.

--
Bill

Hertz_Donut wrote:
> "timeOday" <timeOday-UNSPAM@theknack.net> wrote in message
> news:EamdnRsJeJAF3N3YnZ2dnUVZ_q6dnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>
>>Esteban wrote:
>>
>>>I am planning on purchasing a new laptop for traveling. However, I have
>>>conserns about using the wireless hookups in hotels and airports for
>>>security reasons. I will be using the computer for stock trading and I
>>>must have a 100% secure connection.
>>>Please share your thoughts about security with me.
>>>Thanks,
>>>Steve
>>
>>It really makes no difference whether your laptop is plugged in to your
>>wired Internet at home or a wireless Internet hookup at a hotel. Either
>>way you should only use a stock trading site that uses a secure connection
>>(with the little key in your browser window) - and I would guess they all
>>do.
>
>
> Plugged in to a wired router is safe...someone would have to have physical
> access to the router or network.

Not so. For instance, a hacked router anywhere along the way could
betray you. Also there are tricks you can play with ethernet to divert
packets, making it relatively easy for anybody on your ethernet segment
to get your packets. If you're plugged in somewhere like a hotel room,
you have no idea who that may be. For that matter, you might be plugged
into a hub instead of a switch, making it super-easy for others to see
your packets.

It is risky to send sensitive information on the Internet *unencrypted*,
and there is no reason to do so. You will never find a banking site and
would be pressed to find a shopping site that accepts sensitive
information without encryption. The main things are to make sure your
site is using encryption (I'm sure any stock trading company would), and
to take very seriously any warning dialogs your browser pops up about
suspicious SSL certificates.

> Wireless is another matter altogether.
> Most, if not all, open WiFi hotspots use no encryption at all, so they are
> ripe for abuse such as packet sniffers, etc.

That doesn't matter. You're not relying on those mechanisms when your
browser establishes a secure connection.

> I would not use a public WiFi
> hotspot for day trading, but that is my personal choice...I would also not
> use it to make purchases, log into sensitive websites, etc., even if they
> are a "secure" connection, a false sense of security on a public network.

The entire Internet is a public network, period. End-to-end encryption
is the best (virtually only) protection you have, wired or wireless.

>
> You would be amazed at what can be found on "internet cafe" computers, as
> well as the display models at your local computer store if that computer
> store has internet access. I have found credit card numbers, login/username
> pairs for banks, login/username pairs for internet providers, etc. There
> are freely available utilities that will located these in the maze of files
> that windows creates, and will even allow you to read the actual passwords
> (not the asterisks).

As I said, don't use kiosks. Use your own laptop. And if it is lost or
stolen and you haven't encrypted the disk, heaven help you. But whether
you've been accessing the Internet over wired or wireless makes no
difference at that point.

>
> Using a public hotspot means that you should assume someone is watching what
> you are doing (packet sniffing, capture)

Again, that's what end-to-end encryption is for.

But all of this misses a point that timeOday made: the security of the
internet connection itself not withstanding, all brokerage firms use
encrypted web sites (https instead of http), which will give a good
level of protection, the protection of the internet connection not
withstanding.

Just make sure that it's https BEFORE you logon as well as AFTER you
logon, so that the logon itself is encrypted.

Hertz_Donut wrote:
> "timeOday" <timeOday-UNSPAM@theknack.net> wrote in message
> news:EamdnRsJeJAF3N3YnZ2dnUVZ_q6dnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>
>>Esteban wrote:
>>
>>>I am planning on purchasing a new laptop for traveling. However, I have
>>>conserns about using the wireless hookups in hotels and airports for
>>>security reasons. I will be using the computer for stock trading and I
>>>must have a 100% secure connection.
>>>Please share your thoughts about security with me.
>>>Thanks,
>>>Steve
>>
>>It really makes no difference whether your laptop is plugged in to your
>>wired Internet at home or a wireless Internet hookup at a hotel. Either
>>way you should only use a stock trading site that uses a secure connection
>>(with the little key in your browser window) - and I would guess they all
>>do.
>
>
> Plugged in to a wired router is safe...someone would have to have physical
> access to the router or network. Wireless is another matter altogether.
> Most, if not all, open WiFi hotspots use no encryption at all, so they are
> ripe for abuse such as packet sniffers, etc. I would not use a public WiFi
> hotspot for day trading, but that is my personal choice...I would also not
> use it to make purchases, log into sensitive websites, etc., even if they
> are a "secure" connection, a false sense of security on a public network.
>
> You would be amazed at what can be found on "internet cafe" computers, as
> well as the display models at your local computer store if that computer
> store has internet access. I have found credit card numbers, login/username
> pairs for banks, login/username pairs for internet providers, etc. There
> are freely available utilities that will located these in the maze of files
> that windows creates, and will even allow you to read the actual passwords
> (not the asterisks).
>
> Using a public hotspot means that you should assume someone is watching what
> you are doing (packet sniffing, capture), and you should not log into a site
> that you would not want anyone else to have access to. It is simple as
> that. Anyone who tells you different is either uninformed or does not care
> about security over convenience.
>
>
> Honu
>
>
>
>
>
>

No, it has to be turned on on both side, and the keys have to match.

In this type of situation, the Hotel would have to give you encryption
keys (not just a password) to enable you to use the router. Possible,
but not common.

Note, many hotels have WIRED ethernet connections in the rooms.


me@privacy.net wrote:

> "Hertz_Donut" <nowhere@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Most, if not all, open WiFi hotspots use no encryption at all,
>
>
> Dumb question...but does that encryption have to be
> turned on on the router side? Or can I just turn it
> on via my laptop side?
>
>
> If there is no way I can turn it on from my
> laptop...what abt just using everything with PGP?

"BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in message
news:4540cd90$0$1356$834e42db@reader.greatnowhere. com...
> "Hertz_Donut" <nowhere@mindspring.com> wrote in message
> news:4fydnWEJ8_ujBd3YnZ2dnUVZ_tGdnZ2d@hawaiiantel. net
>> You would be amazed at what can be found on "internet cafe"
>> computers, as well as the display models at your local computer store
>> if that computer store has internet access. I have found credit card
>> numbers, login/username pairs for banks, login/username pairs for
>> internet providers, etc...
>
> Why are you looking at other people's information Honu?
>
> --
> Bill

Usually at the request of the owner; they want an idea of what the
computers are used for, and whether restrictions need to be added.

Honu