Firefox, and Firesheep, and Hackers, Oh My!

Well here we are again. Open Wi-Fi networks at places such as Starbucks are being used as a potential hang-out for hackers. This should be no surprise since Open (unencrypted) Wi-Fi connections have always been a threat to their users.

This was all brought to light in recent weeks by an add-on to Firefox called "Firesheep" that demonstrated the newest twist. Using this tool, a person can copy your user-session-cookie for popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon and many more. Once copied, that Website cannot distinguish the "stealing" laptop from your legitimate one. Therefore, the laptop that stole your cookie can complete financial and security transactions the same as if they were performed by you. While this has not been completely confirmed in all cases, it is an issue that Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon are responding to. In the mean time, it underscores a potentially massive security risk with these free, unsecured Wi-Fi connections.

Kenesco's opinion is this. Do not use any unencrypted Wi-fi networks. Period. If you are forced to use these for travel with your job, you must always make sure your browser is operating in an encrypted mode. You can tell this because the Web address will begin with 'HTTPS://' instead of 'HTTP://'. The 'S' stands for SSL or Secure Socket Layer. In layman's terms, your connection to that specific Website is encrypted. However when your browser drops out of HTTPS to HTTP - even for a moment, you are exposed.

Never perform financial transactions or shopping over wireless networks. Never connect to your office computers without a secure connection. When in doubt, use a program like GoToMyPC and LogMeIn to get to your office documents. Both of these tools will encrypt your connection. Better yet, work with your IT department to create a company-wide solution. These are typically more cost effective and will be more manageable for document access across your team.