Re: wireless security

Unruh wrote:
jay lunis <jay.lunis@xxxxxxxxx> writes:

I am afraid this may not be the appropriate ng (I was referred to wireless.security which I can't find in my list of ng's)for this but I can find no other that comes close.
I have asked this of a few people and can't seem to get a consistent answer (well, I can find a LOT of answers but since the answers seem to vary to the extreme, I have no faith in any). Just gambling someone here can answer. If not, please direct me to an appropriate ng.
I sometimes travel with a PDA, cell phone, or both. I enjoy keeping up on some news on the net and have used some free networks (e.g., Starbucks) to do my surfing. But I often read articles warning about how unsafe such behavior can be. Anywhere from someone sucking all the info from my PDA, to being connected to fake network, to 'just don't use a password,' to 'its all way overblown - don't worry.'
To date, my surfing has been visiting news sites - no passwords, no usernames, no SSNs. And I have seen no evidence anyone has sucked info from my PDA/cell (if I could tell).
So here it is - how safe is it to surf free/public networks? Any precautions I can/should take?

You must assume that all information that is transfered over the net is
open for the world to see, unless you specifially encrypt it before it
exits your device. It also depends on how much security your machine has.
Ie, it is connected to a public network, and it has no firewall to protect
it. Its only protection is what it has in its own software. Eg, if anyone
can log on without passwords to your pda, then it is highly insecure. (I
have no idea what the security standards are on pdas).
And yes "sucking out the data" rarely leaves any traces behind. I would not
use a device which contained sensitive information on it.

Very good. Just a few questions for clarification.
I presume there is such thing as firewall sw for PDAa and Windows Mobile phones?
If my data on the PDA is password-protected (e.g., contact info/calendar) then my PDA is secure whether I surf or not. Right?
All sensitive data on my PDA is in one app which is password-protected. Only use of PDA/phone is to surf news sites like google, reuters. Does this mean surfing is safer?
.

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