I need internet
What is the risk to me if I connect to an unencrypted wireless network on a regular basis? My house has wireless, but it seriously sucks, and I get much better, reliable connectivity from several of our neighbors' networks. I did some research (okay, it was Wikipedia), and it sounds like at least some people think it's fine. Any other opinions/knowledge?
Comments
Anything that your browser says is "secure" (most browsers have the little lock icon thing and the https prefix should be there) is protected. A fair number of sites don't protect your password that way, though. I just checked the nytimes and delicious and neither encrypted passwords. In those situations, anyone can see your password, too. If that password is used elsewhere, a malicious person could try your username/password at other major sites and potentially cause major mischief.
That's all doom and gloom, though. The reality is the odds of someone watching your traffic that closely are pretty low. If you use separate passwords for sites like delicious and sites like ebay and gmail, then your exposure is particularly low. The worst that can happen is someone can mess up your blog, see what sites you visit, or read your email.
Drew
The other thing I should clarify is that it doesn't matter whether the node is protected or not - once a user is connected, they can always see all other traffic, unless it's VPN'd. So the risk with unprotected nodes is that anyone can wander onto it, not just the people you give the key too and presumably trust.
Happy to help,
Drew