Business travelers eager to plug their laptop computers into wireless Internet networks cropping up at hotels, airports and coffee shops need to be on guard: their e-mail and Web browsing can be easily intercepted, security experts warn.
The problem, they say, is that these new networks, which charge an hourly fee for wireless access to the Internet, aren't protected by encryption and are vulnerable to hackers.
"When you sit in an airport and use your laptop you might as well be broadcasting to anyone within listening distance," said Jason Sewell, a digital forensics specialist at security firm Predictive Systems.
Wireless networks -- known sometimes as Wi-Fi -- are taking off. American Airlines offers them in all but two of its frequent-flier lounges at airports in the US, and some entire airports are rigged for wireless connections. The networks are also popping up in hotels, and the Starbucks chain is introducing them at its coffee shops.
Market-leader MobileStar, based in Richardson, Texas, provides about 650 wireless network areas for American Airlines, Starbucks and several hotel chains. Their networks have no encryption at all, so almost everything sent from a customer's laptop can be picked up by a nearby hacker.
Internet Security Systems co-founder Chris Klaus said it takes no special software to intercept data off a Wi-Fi network, and is easy to do.
MobileStar chief technology officer Ali Tabassi said users should install firewall programs and use Virtual Private Networking software.
A VPN creates a secure pipeline between a remote user and the employer's network. But many companies don't offer them to employees, and security experts say business travelers often opt for the easiest access, at the expense of security.
"Nothing is 100 percent secure," said Bill Carroll, waiting last week at the American Airlines frequent-flier lounge at Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC. "But once again, you have to ask yourself, `What risks am I willing to take compared with what benefits I think I need from the system.' "It's always that trade-off," he said.
Jorge Murillo, a regional sales manager for a telecommunications company, said he would use the new wireless lounges, but only for routine communications.
"Anything I regard as sensitive or confidential information I would not send over the wireless network," said Murillo, who also was waiting at the American Airlines lounge.
MobileStar's Web page touts its service as secure, but Tabassi acknowledged there is no notice in airport lounges or coffee shops informing consumers that their connections are not secure.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique