[wplug] wi-fi security?

[Duncan Hutty]

DK wrote:

> If you are using a open, unencrypted wireless network, the only way to
> secure traffic is to use VPN or SSH to tunnel into another trusted
> network.
> Check out: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SSH_VPN

This is good advice.

There are some subtleties involved here; it used to be that people would 
say "for secure web traffic, just make sure you are https and check certs".

Over the years, there have been a number of attacks that have been 
successfully able to exploit web browsers and more generally, SSL. For 
some examples, look at Moxie Marlinspike's work: 
http://www.thoughtcrime.org/software.html

and http://www.sslfail.com

Most of these fall under 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack
-- 
Duncan Hutty
System Administrator, ECE
Carnegie Mellon University

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