If you’re going to use free wifi at a local coffee shop or eatery, you’ll want to make sure you invest in a good VPN (virtual private network) service. Without the protection of the encryption a VPN provides, your data is open for anyone to see when you are using an open wifi connection.

Foreverwarm Consulting writes that a simple Firefox plugin Firesheep has made unprotected wifi usage more dangerous than ever because it allows users to spy on your internet data as well as use your connection.

Misuse of data send over open wifi connections happens all the time. Just think of how many people complain that someone has hacked into their email account. Part of the problem could be the use of unencrypted wifi to access email and Facebook accounts.

Websites could help solve the problem by adding encryption to their websites (a la the option to force https in GMail), but until Facebook, Yahoo and other sites offer use of secure servers, the second best option is to subscribe to a VPN, as well as adopt safe password practices, including not using the same password everywhere.

Technorati Tags: encryption, Firesheep, internet, privacy, safety, VPN, wifi

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