Freeware Hotspot Security? in Wireless Security http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20915401 en Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:00:19 EDT Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:00:19 EDT Re: Freeware Hotspot Security? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21336159 eli2k : If you are at a university or large company, they should have their own VPN. My university decided not to encrypt their wireless network, only using the student id/password to gain access to the network, so I have started to use VPN while on their network just to be on the safe side.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21336159 Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:53:00 EDT Re: Freeware Hotspot Security? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20985412 mudturtle74 : Check out the AnchorFree web site:

»www.anchorfree.com/downloads/hotspot-shield/

I use it occasionally at hotspots. It is a free download and use.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20985412 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:24:56 EDT Re: Freeware Hotspot Security? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20919460 SoonerAl :
said by blackdragon1 See Profile :

thanks guys

I just took a look at those threads, but it doesnt really help. In one situation they are talking about wired, which is not the case for me.

Are there any free VPN's out there for use?
Wired or wireless the protection schemes are basically the same as far as your application is concerned, ie. laptop security at a public place.

Free VPNs?

SSH, OpenVPN, SSL-Explorer, Hamachi, PPTP (built-in to Windows), etc are some.

The BBR VPN forum...

»Virtual Private Networking
--
"When all else fails, read the instructions..."
MS-MVP Windows – Desktop User Experience]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20919460 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:06:59 EDT Re: Freeware Hotspot Security? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20918398 blackdragon1 : thanks guys

I just took a look at those threads, but it doesnt really help. In one situation they are talking about wired, which is not the case for me.

Are there any free VPN's out there for use?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20918398 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:47:15 EDT Re: Freeware Hotspot Security? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20918059 SoonerAl : Here are some similar threads concerning this issue...

»Safe at public HotSpots??

»Security at Wireless Hot spots

»Secure Net Access in Hotel Room

Presuming your running Vista make sure any unsecured public hotspot network you connect to is configured as Public.

»Re: Network settings Public or Private in Vista for Home user?
--
"When all else fails, read the instructions..."
MS-MVP Windows – Desktop User Experience]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20918059 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:11:33 EDT Re: Freeware Hotspot Security? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20917496 docrice : When you involve some kind of method involving securing point-to-point communications, you're relying on an existing service, not an application that does the whole thing locally on your machine (after all, something on the other end has to decrypt the traffic).

However, if you're willing to set up a VPN server at home (and make the necessary network configurations), that would be a free solution for you.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20917496 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:08:17 EDT Re: Freeware Hotspot Security? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20917419 blackdragon1 : are they any programs (other than Tor) that are designed specifically for this?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20917419 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:51:40 EDT Re: Freeware Hotspot Security? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20916114 docrice : As I mentioned, you can employ encryption at several layers:

Link Layer:
This inevitably means implementation at the hotspot using WPA or something antiquated like WEP. This probably won't work for most hotspots due to reasons we've already covered.

IP layer:
IPSec, PPTP (although that's really layer 2 with GRE wrapped around it), etc..

Application layer:
SSL / TLS, SSH, Tor, etc.. The most direct (and free) way of doing this is Tor, although you're almost guaranteed to have a slowdown in perceived throughput due to the number of proxy hops you're routing through for the anonymization. Plus you run into other security issues such as Tor node operators who control both entrance and exit nodes and monitoring timing of traffic to determine who you are.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20916114 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:57:35 EDT Re: Freeware Hotspot Security? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20915894 blackdragon1 : I see. But for public free wifi spots, there probably wont be any password to access the network. So are there any programs specifically for this to keep you more secure?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20915894 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:04:51 EDT Re: Freeware Hotspot Security? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20915501 docrice : If you're talking about traffic between you and the website / chat peer / mail server / etc., you need something like a VPN client and a VPN gateway that's outside of the network segment of the hotspot provider. There's a few out there who provide a VPN service. That said, it's only a "proxy" (kind of like Tor) and it's not end-to-end like doing an SSL transaction with a website during the shopping cart "check-out" process.

On the other hand, some hotspot providers (usually mom and pops who manage their own AP) might have WPA enabled and provide their customers the temporary pre-shared key and rotate its value every week.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20915501 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:51:11 EDT Freeware Hotspot Security? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20915401 blackdragon1 : Hello,

I recently got my first laptop, so im not too familiar with wifi. Anyways, i found out that when accessing public hotspots, its best to have some sort of protection (in addition to your firewall and av) so that the data you send is encrypted/unseen

are there any freeware programs out there that will keep me secure at hotspot locations?

thanks]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20915401 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:34:30 EDT