Security at a public hot spot

dave43 · 06-17-2005

I plan to use my laptop at hotspots like at panera or starbucks. I have zone alarm on my laptop. Is there anything else I should put on it? I also have a shared file that I use on my home network. should I turn that off? How would someone be able to access it at a public wifi location.

Thorn · 06-17-2005

If you are not using end-to-end encrpytion of some type (VPN, SSL, etc.), then EVERYTHING you send over a public network is visable to anyone who takes the (very minor) effort to see it. Email sent and received, web traffic, LAN functions, etc.

File shares are the simplest, but not the only means to view your data. Turn off shares at a minimum, next set your firewall to the highest level that will allow you to do whatever you need to do on the network, while allowing nothing else. eg. For just web surfing and web SSL, you would want to close down everything except Ports 80 and 443.

Thorn · 06-17-2005

By the way, this has been covered in a lot more detail in prior threads, Try some searches on things like "public", "hotspot*", and "VPN" and you should find plenty to make you paranoid, as well as what to do about it.

06-17-2005	#1 (permalink)
dave43 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 46	Security at a public hot spot I plan to use my laptop at hotspots like at panera or starbucks. I have zone alarm on my laptop. Is there anything else I should put on it? I also have a shared file that I use on my home network. should I turn that off? How would someone be able to access it at a public wifi location.

06-17-2005	#2 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,084	If you are not using end-to-end encrpytion of some type (VPN, SSL, etc.), then EVERYTHING you send over a public network is visable to anyone who takes the (very minor) effort to see it. Email sent and received, web traffic, LAN functions, etc. File shares are the simplest, but not the only means to view your data. Turn off shares at a minimum, next set your firewall to the highest level that will allow you to do whatever you need to do on the network, while allowing nothing else. eg. For just web surfing and web SSL, you would want to close down everything except Ports 80 and 443. __________________ Thorn "I'm The Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I am from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I am the man who is going to save your lives and all 6 billion people on the planet below... You got a problem with that?"

06-17-2005	#3 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,084	By the way, this has been covered in a lot more detail in prior threads, Try some searches on things like "public", "hotspot*", and "VPN" and you should find plenty to make you paranoid, as well as what to do about it. __________________ Thorn "I'm The Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I am from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I am the man who is going to save your lives and all 6 billion people on the planet below... You got a problem with that?"

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