Surfing on open wi-fi is no longer secure. Someone using Firesheep on the same open net can grab your cookies and even login as you on sites like Facebook and Twitter.
A virtual private network will solve the problem. Mashable profiles several VPNs and also has info on how to install a VPN on your iPhone or iPad.
For good or ill, the majority of users will not start using VPNs. The two-pronged solution is to set up passwords on open wi-fi networks (the password can be open; Starbucks can just set all their passwords to ‘starbucks’ if they like, or ‘open’), and password-protected sites like Facebook need to follow Google’s lead and make TLS mandatory.
In the medium to long term, Firesheep is doing us a favor. This vulnerability has been around for a long time, and Firesheep has just made it easier to leverage.
I completely agree. All wi-fi needs a password. Starbucks can post it on the counter. Problem solved.
In the meantime, use https when connecting to Twitter, Facebook, Google, etc.
What’s TLS?
TLS is the secure layer underlying https (the successor to SSL).
Google (I think) already enforces https for anything requiring a login. It used to be that you had to set it as a preference (in Gmail, for instance), but I think it’s now the default.
1)I completely agree. All wi-fi needs a password. Starbucks can post it on the counter. Problem solved.
REAL INFO:
WRONG, with the password, all peeps are still on the network, anyone with a password can EASILY sniff another
2)
In the meantime, use https when connecting to Twitter, Facebook, Google, etc.
REAL INFO:
WRONG, https/SSL is easily spoofed
all of this is garbage info, you MUST use a VPN, period