Paranoid at the Airport about yet another security issue

by biverson | January 31, 2008 at 08:46 am
899 views | 12 Recommendations | 2 comments

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I made it through security with my liquids and gels intact. Wearing UGGs, I forgot I'd have to be able to walk on cold tile through the security arch before I could put my boots back on.  I had time to grab some food and coffee. Safe? I guess not. I got my little "bar stool" at the laptop bar and even got hold of an outlet. So, I pay for my wifi access and then find this story about "sidejacking." Sigh, I am so suspicious of the guy using his mobile near me...oh well. This is life electronic...
By listening to and storing radio signals from the airwaves with any laptop, an attacker can harvest cookies from multiple users and go in to their Web 2.0 application.  Even though the password wasn’t actually cracked or stolen, possession of the cookies acts as a temporary key to gain access to Web 2.0 applications such as Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo.  The attacker can even find out what books you ordered on Amazon, where you live from Google maps, acquire digital certificates with your email account in the subject line, and much more.
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Jordan Yerman
Jordan Yerman
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:56 on January 31st, 2008

I remove cookies before using any public network*, because I'm paranoid, too. Looks like plist/pref files are safe, though, so email clients should be okay to run.

 

(* No doubt, though, I forget on occasion) 

ryan
ryan
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:07 on January 31st, 2008

biverson, eeeek, that is scary. Much scary than a dude with a water bottle on the plane.

This story was created over 3 months ago, the comment thread is now closed.

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First Flagged at 9:56 AM, Jan 31, 2008 by Jordan Yerman
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