Do not use wireless networks that allow you to connect without requiring a pass code. You may be tempted to use that open network when you don’t have other options, but if you do, you now run the risk of your Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, Flickr (and more) accounts being hijacked. Three days ago, a freelance software developer named Eric Butler released a Firefox add-on named Firesheep1. Firesheep2 allows anyone connected to the same open network as you to eavesdrop on your browsing sessions with the above websites and to play like they are you—all at the double-click of a mouse button. Butler claims this is possible because websites have ignored the responsibility to protect their users adequately. “They've been ignoring this responsibility for too long, and it's time for everyone to demand a more secure web. My hope is that Firesheep will help the users win.” Firesheep is raising awareness, but I doubt we’ll see any “users win” anytime soon. So, when you are about to connect to an unsecure network and Windows tells you that information sent over this network might be visible to others, it’s really not joking.
1 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2371465,00.asp
2 http://codebutler.com/firesheep
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