Wifi security

[The Stimulator]

I've been aware of the risks of using my laptop at a public wireless hotspot, but last night my better half saw on Watchdog the item about how easy it is for someone to hack into your account whilst you're connected.

They spoke about VPN as an option. Can anyone explain in simple terms a bit more about Virtual Private Networks, and/or recommend some good (and preferably not too expensive) options?

I'm working a lot in Saudi Arabia at the moment, so am often connected through hotel/airport/cafe hotspots. At the moment I'm using a notebook PC, running Windows XP SP3, so anything that is a major resource user is probably not ideal.

 

[gwigglesworth]

Think you will find most of the program was rubbish.

1) Don't install anything from a public WiFi on your machine
2) Only go to places that you don't mind people seeing you going to in public.
i.e. don't send your credit card/bank details across a public network.
3) If someone is sniffing to get details without a complex token VPN they can get in.
4) Just like with everything if they want it they will take it.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

VPN is a point to point network so if say you had a server at home and you wanted to connect securely to it then a VPN would work. It will do nothing for you if your surfing the internet or picking up email form your ISP. It would work if you could set one up between your laptop and the public WIFI point but that will never happen. If your worried then make sure whatever your connecting to is WEP encrypted at a minimum or better WAP 2 encrypted. Again probably not going to happen very often on public access points. Other options would be get a 3G dongle and use the mobile phone network. Pretty cheap to do in the UK but no idea of the costs in Saudi. If that doesn't fit your pocket then the least you should do is run a firewall and anti virus software probably wont help a whole lot but its better than nothing and dont do anything private while your connected like internet banking or the likes.

 

[Gecko]

So as not to offend anyone - I will firstly declare that I operate a VPN service to allow overseas (Non-UK) people access to UK geographically restricted websites like I-player and other media broadcasters, The security that the VPN will offer is that by using a shared IP address you are one of many users sharing the internet access thus making the path to your laptop very confused and almost impossible to identify. Further more your IP address will keep changing so you won't be easy to follow and be recognised next time you connect. Our servers carry some heavy weight anti virus protection and have professionally managed firewalls to keep out unwanted prowlers. Connecting directly to the internet using standard MS or other tools will offer you limited protection. Hackers using sophisticated tools will often be able to bypass simple protection tools if they desired. If they tried to look for your PC whilst connected to our VPN you could have anyone of several different IP addresses non of which would be in Saudi so at least that will confuse them for starters The VPN would connect you first to a secure server and from there you go out onto the internet. We promote this as a benefit but not as our main point because our main function is to by pass geographical restrictions. I hope this doesn't sound like too much of an advertisment - it's not the intention but hopefully it informs you of what a VPN can do for you.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Sounds like a good service you have there Gecko. Just out of curiosity is it a fully enclosed VPN as in all traffic goes through it or just partial where only a limited addresses go through it?

 

[The Stimulator]

So as not to offend anyone - I will firstly declare that I operate a VPN service to allow overseas (Non-UK) people access to UK geographically restricted websites like I-player and other media broadcasters, The security that the VPN will offer is that by using a shared IP address you are one of many users sharing the internet access thus making the path to your laptop very confused and almost impossible to identify. Further more your IP address will keep changing so you won't be easy to follow and be recognised next time you connect. Our servers carry some heavy weight anti virus protection and have professionally managed firewalls to keep out unwanted prowlers. Connecting directly to the internet using standard MS or other tools will offer you limited protection. Hackers using sophisticated tools will often be able to bypass simple protection tools if they desired. If they tried to look for your PC whilst connected to our VPN you could have anyone of several different IP addresses non of which would be in Saudi so at least that will confuse them for starters The VPN would connect you first to a secure server and from there you go out onto the internet. We promote this as a benefit but not as our main point because our main function is to by pass geographical restrictions. I hope this doesn't sound like too much of an advertisment - it's not the intention but hopefully it informs you of what a VPN can do for you.

Gecko,

TVexpat (hope no-one minds me naming it ) certainly looks a good product and would have the benefit for me of being able to watch UK TV. Just to give you an idea of my level of technical incompetence though, when I connect to the internet in my hotel room, I usually have to sign in through what I guess is called a portal (?) as that is how they levy any charges. Will that still be possible using a system like TVexpat?

Iain

 

[Gecko]

Gecko,

TVexpat (hope no-one minds me naming it ) certainly looks a good product and would have the benefit for me of being able to watch UK TV. Just to give you an idea of my level of technical incompetence though, when I connect to the internet in my hotel room, I usually have to sign in through what I guess is called a portal (?) as that is how they levy any charges. Will that still be possible using a system like TVexpat?

Iain

Normally you should be able to connect to our servers without a problem but if they have very strict firewall settings or you are perhaps using a company laptop which restricts what you can set up you could have problems. If you are interested sign up and try it and if you can't connect we have a 48 hour no quibble money back guarantee. We have had one or two people who haven't been able to connect but it is very rare but I know the ISPs in the Middle East can be tricky and a bit censoring , same in China and some other places but unless all our servers are individually blocked by the ISP you should be able to connect.

In answer to the other question - it is all traffic so once connected you are accesssing the internet via the UK servers for all surfing and connections. If you need to connect locally then simply disconnect from the VPN and look local and reconnect whenever you like. There are now 7 UK servers - we just added 2 more and availability is 24/7.