Secure computing on the road
November 21st, 2005 | by Tim Wilson |I’m in Rochester, MN for a couple days this week working as a mentor at an ISTE Institute. After listening to the latest Security Now! podcast with Steve Gibson where he talked about VPNs, I decided that I should probably get my act together and get set up with a secure connection.
If you ever use a laptop in an untrusted environment you should be using a VPN. By “untrusted” I mean a setting where you’re not sure who might be eavesdropping on your communications. Coffee shops, hotel rooms, and even remote offices on wired connections are good examples. Many people these days are used to using SSL-encrypted Web access for banking or online commerce (the “https” sites), but it’s less obvious that many email connections are unencrypted. In other words, unless you take steps to avoid it, the default behavior is usually to send your email password flying across the network in plain text where it can be intercepted by someone running a packet sniffer.
After doing a bit of research online, I signed up for a month of HotSpotVPN service. After a relatively straightforward install (it’s easier on a PC), I was connected to their service and all of my Internet traffic is now running through an encrypted “tunnel” and immune from inquiring packet sniffers. The service is about $10/month and I consider it a bargain for frequent travelers or anyone who uses wifi connections in public places.
Tags: free wifi, hotspotvpn, security, vpn
One Response to “Secure computing on the road”
By John Gall on Dec 14, 2005 | Reply
What you recommend is 100% correct. You would be amazed at how many people use VPN’s to connect to work then disconnect and use no encryption to use e-mail via pop3 or webmail sites from their local isp. No doubt they have sensitive financial data in their inbox or transmissions.