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Networked Blogs
Mar
27
Firesheep and free wifi means you need a VPN
Filed Under ChristopherHedges.com | Comments Off
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.
Mar
26
They know where you have been
Filed Under ChristopherHedges.com | Comments Off
Cellphones are a wonderful invention, but there is a privacy downside if you carry your phone all the time — cellular phones constantly ping your location.
While the fact that cell phones ping local towers is not unknown, what isn’t clear is what cell phone companies may be doing with the information they are gathering.
Writes Noam Cohen in the New York Times:
If the information is valuable to law enforcement, it could be lucrative for marketers. The major American cellphone providers declined to explain what exactly they collect and what they use it for.
