A question about wireless

[Falcon21]

Hello, I am new to wireless and has a question. My campus network do not have encryption for wireless access. When I connect to the net, will other user on the same network be able see the data transmitted through my laptop? If yes, how they do it? What can I do?

[moxnix]

Being on a wireless network is the same as being on a wired network. The main difference is that on a wired network if someone wants to sniff the data, they must be directly connected to the network, or be connected to the first node the internet connection goes through.

Basically to protect yourself, you must do the same things that you would do on any untrusted wired network. Like turning off netbios, file and print sharing, having a good AV, and using a properly configured firewall.

There are some excellent guidelines on securing your system here on 'AO'. Go to Negatives tutorial index and search for the tutorials that will help you the most.

[counterspell]

Anything really vital I would use PGP for. Otherwise someone could install a sniffer and monitor the whole network. The administrator is prbably doing this already, as he should (it's a could way to see if a h4x0r is trying to break in). Actually, most sniffers just grab the headers of packets, which is the part that contains passwords. So use encrypted login protocols like SSH whenever possible.

[Highlander]

The big problem with wireless is that if it is unencripted or
even encripted, it can be hacked into or monitored...
That is why I do not reconmend it to my business customers
Residiental users is another thing....