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I am on a secure page on an unsecured hotel wireless connection. Is it safe to enter financial info on this page? The lower right hand section has the secure lock, but I am not certain if someone can see the info that is not blocked out (like the password is).
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Security - Unsecured Wrieless-Hotel
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#2
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Posted 01 January 2011 - 06:47 PM
pagemaker, on 01 January 2011 - 11:50 AM, said:
Is it safe to enter financial info on this page? The lower right hand section has the secure lock
In theory, yes, it is safe. But there are some risks. I would not do it.
The secure lock you see is actually for the page you are viewing right now, it is not for the page to which you will be posting your confidential data.
By convention, the data you will be posting will also use HTTPS, but it's just that: a convention. Unless you examine the HTML code (and probably the JavaScript code), you can't be 100% sure that your data will be posted with HTTPS. But in almost all of the cases, it will be.
You should also inspect the certificate by clicking on the secure lock, to be sure that it is a certificate from your bank, issued by a CA you trust.
#3
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Posted 01 January 2011 - 07:21 PM
If you're using Firefox, this extension - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3199/ - Link Alert, may be useful to you. Basically when you hover over a link or button, a tooltip displays next to the pointer stating the destination. So you can easily tell if it's https or not..
-bruce /* somdcomputerguy */
'If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.'
'If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.'
#4
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Posted 02 January 2011 - 11:41 AM
Here is an interesting press release:
http://www.sbsheriff.org/pr/12301001.html
Quote
Sheriff's Detectives Arrest Suspected Identity Thief
Santa Barbara - December 30th, 2010
...
Further investigation has revealed that Ehimika would select his victim’s by trolling through neighborhoods looking for unsecured wireless internet connections. Once he identified a residence with a vulnerable signal, he would use his computer skills to obtain critical personal information from his victims and then ultimately tap into their home equity accounts.
...
Santa Barbara - December 30th, 2010
...
Further investigation has revealed that Ehimika would select his victim’s by trolling through neighborhoods looking for unsecured wireless internet connections. Once he identified a residence with a vulnerable signal, he would use his computer skills to obtain critical personal information from his victims and then ultimately tap into their home equity accounts.
...
http://www.sbsheriff.org/pr/12301001.html
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