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 Virsecure >
Solutions > Personal
Open wireless networks
Convenience could mean trouble
Many people don't know
what happens to their usernames, passwords, and
personal email messages when using public wireless
networks. This data often travels freely through the
air in clear text. Worse, it is very simple for someone
else on that same network to intercept your information
and use it against you for their own benefit.
Many conferences are now
widely known for having open wireless networks
available to hundreds of attendees at the same time.
Cafes, bookstores, and public libraries offer free or
pay-per-use wireless hotspots. The amount of data and
personal information traveling freely though the air is
at an all-time high.
The majority of these wireless networks are configured
with the lowest possible security settings, so that
customers can connect to the network as easy and
trouble-free as possible. This allows just about anyone
with a wireless-capable laptop computer to walk into a
cafe, grab a cup of coffee, and start browsing or
checking their email immediately.
What you may not realize is how easy these low security
settings allow someone else on the same network to spy
on the data passing around on that network. Just
because you’re the only person who can see your laptop
screen, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the only one
who can see the email message you just got from a
friend. Just as easily as someone could sit near you in
a quiet cafe or library and overhear your entire verbal
conversation with another person, so could they “listen
in” on all the usernames, passwords, and messages
passing to and from your computer.
Email Messages
Easy
access to usernames and passwords
If you’re not doing
something to secure your email, your usernames,
passwords, and messages are most likely traveling
through the air as clear text. Plain, unscrambled,
unencrypted, easy-to-read-by-anyone text. Anyone
connected to the same network can “sniff” for data
passing through the air, then grab and log that data on
their computer. All without you even knowing it. You
have no idea how much of your digital conversations are
being overheard.
Information is traveling to and from your computer in
the form of small packets. Each time your computer
receives those packets, it reassembles them, and
displays the email you received, or the web page you’re
trying to view. Utilities called 'packet sniffers' can
detect or “sniff” these packets of information flying
around on the network, collecting it for analysis.
System Administrators use packet sniffers and network
utilities to monitor and troubleshoot their own
networks. Now, packet sniffers are widely and freely
available, and are easy for anyone to use.
Safeguarding your information
Keeping
your personal information secure
There are many means of
safeguarding email communication. They each have
varying degrees of security and capability. Methods
range from access to a trusted VPN, to secure web-based
email applications (web mail), to allowing connections
over SSL.
The good news is that with
Virsecure you can scramble this data to make it
completely unintelligible, even if someone else does
intercept it! Our
system provides all the security and accessibility
required to protect your most important information -
without the expense of a dedicated network or other
expensive tools.
 Click
here for more information
Click
here to sign up now
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