The important thing to note is that packet sniffing doesn’t modify the information being sniffed in any way. If you’re concerned, you have a reason to be. Now, packet sniffers are widely and freely available, and are easy for anyone to use. SysAdmins use packet sniffers and network utilities to monitor and troubleshoot their own networks. Utilities called packet sniffers can detect or “sniff” these packets of information flying around on the network, collecting it for analysis. 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. Information is traveling to and from your computer in the form of small packets. You have no idea how much of your digital conversations are being overheard. Anyone connected to the same network can “sniff” for data passing through the air, then grab and log that data on their computer. Plain, unscrambled, unencrypted, easy-to-read-by-anyone text. 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. How can a stranger “intercept” my personal info?Įasier than you think, if you’re not being careful. (And everyone else’s computer for that matter.) The art of interception 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. The amount of data and personal information traveling freely though the air is at an all-time high.
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Cafes, bookstores, and public libraries offer free or pay-per-use wireless hotspots. The network may be sanctioned by the conference organizers, or not. Many conferences are now widely known for having open wireless networks available to hundreds of attendees at once. They open up their laptop in a public setting, select any available wireless network, and immediately pop open their email client to start sucking down their messages. I’m amazed when I see friends naively checking email wirelessly without using some type of secure connection. It shouldn’t take someone longer than 15-30 minutes to configure a Mac, once they understand what needs to be done. Some of the tips below are Mac-specific, and will only prevent other people on a wireless network from easily sniffing your information. I don’t claim to know all the answers, nor the best means of securing your data and communication. No one solution is the best for everyone. There are many means to an end when it comes to security.
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With SXSW Interactive and several other upcoming conferences looming on the horizon, I’m reminded once again that I’ve promised quite a few people that I’d write out my steps for securing email on the Mac as it passes from my computer over a wireless network. Know what happens to your usernames, passwords, and personal email messages when you use public wireless networks? Know that this data often travels freely through the air in clear text? And do you know how dead simple it is for anyone else on that same network to intercept your information and use it against you? On the flip side, did you know you can scramble this data to make it completely unintelligible, even if someone else does intercept it? If you’re concerned about strangers having open access to your usernames and passwords, and all the email you send and receive while connected to a public wireless network - whether you use a Mac or not - you’ll want to read this. And in doing so, document the way I use SSH to secure email when I’m on a wireless network. After more than a year of implementing my own measures, I think it’s time to help raise awareness of email security.