Unencrypted Wifi

I attempted to set up WEP encryption but couldn't since I don't have access to the router where I am. Couldn't anyone signed on to the same network intercept my transmissions or is their protection against this? In a hotel with wifi someone could eavesdrop on your communications.

 

Security has to be set by the Wireless source. If the Hotel maintains an Unsecured Wireless there is nothing that you can do about it.

Eavesdropping on Wireless is Not a simple default thing that every one can or know how to do, you need the know how, a lot of patient and special software. However it possible eavesdrops if some one makes is mind to.

It a personal decision how to go about it I would not use unsecured connection for sensitive action like On line banking etc. My email goes through secure sight so the traffic is encrypted. For general surfing I do use unsecured connection when I am on the road and have no other choice.

 

Will encryption cover secured transcations or will anything between my PC and access point by unsecured?

 

There are few aspects involving Unsecured Wireless.

1. People can "stea"l Internet Bandwidth from the Internet Connection.
2. People can gain access to some one’s Network.
3. People can Intercept the signal and get the clear text info. off it.

One and two are Not relevant in this case since we are talking about the Hotel Wireless System.

As far as three goes, if the transaction is secured, the unsecured wireless signal can be intercepted, but since it is encrypted information the “interceptor” would not be able to read any thing.

 

Also you have to remember that WEP is a joke, when it comes to bandwidth, it might help against average users. But if someone that has any computer knowledge wants to connect to your network it is easily as using a few programs. It takes a good user about three min to find your WEP. Make sure you also make a password for your router or you will have uber issues with people reconfiguring it.

 

Let me state a few more things:

1) WEP is rubbish, in the extreme. With the correct software you can crack it in 15 minutes or less if you're (un)lucky. You can even automate the procedure
2) MAC filtering doesn't help. You can bypass it in about a minute, if that.
3) If you're on a public access point, your transmissions will be in plaintext.

In my opinion, the only way to be sure of being secure while on an unencrypted WAP is to have a SSH server at home - run an encrypted tunnel from you to the server, and then use that as a proxy to access anything. That way all traffic that you send will be encrypted traffic - without the need for the wireless access point to be configured.

I can tell you that sitting in a busy WiFi enabled cafe in a major city- within about 10 minutes or so you can sniff (or intercept) a huge number of passwords. Any older protocol like FTP, SMTP, POP3, or HTTP authorisation can all be intercepted using freely available tools. You don't even need to know anything about wireless security - all you need to do is run a program and it'll all happen for you.

If you fancy watching some of this in action, check out http://www.hak5.org/episodes Ep #7 deals with SSH Tunnelling, but with VNC (remote control program) rather than anything else. But you can easily use the same principle to forward to a proxy server - be it one you've set up yourself or otherwise.