RE: How safe / unsafe is Free Open WiFi?

["Sandeep Romana" <sandeepr () cdac in>]

Hi,

As per my knowledge in am trying to answer the question. Anybody Please correct me if anywhere I am wrong. 

WiFi usually uses Radio Frequency for transmission of traffic. As per the nature of radio signals; the WiFi devices and 
Access Point's broadcast the traffic, so they can be captured by anyone who is in range. Moreover the protocol that is 
used in WiFi for encryption( i.e WEP(Wired Equivalent Protocol)) does not use good encryption algorithms which means 
WEP encryption can be cracked very easily. 

Sandeep



-----Original Message-----
From: listbounce () securityfocus com [mailto:listbounce () securityfocus com] On Behalf Of BlogPatrol.com
Sent: 10 March 2008 23:23
To: security-basics () securityfocus com
Subject: How safe / unsafe is Free Open WiFi?

Hi, 

I have what is probably a rather basic question:  Just how safe are free, or open, WiFi networks that you find in 
Internet cafes, Hotels, Airports, etc?  My personal opinion is that there are very unsafe, but I do not have the 
technical expertise to explain to my colleages why they are unsafe.

Can anyone provide a summary, or a link to an article that provides a summary, of why a laptop or PDA user should avoid 
using free and open WiFi networks?

Regards,
Tony Nguyen

Tony Nguyen, President
BlogPatrol.com, Inc.
support () blogpatrol com | http://www.blogpatrol.com | http://thepatrolblog.blogspot.com