Firesheep – Eroding Privacy One Coffeeshop at a Time

As American Public Media’s Marketplace reported this morning, there is a new threat to privacy and this one seems justified: Firesheep.

Even the name sounds scary.

Firesheep is an add-on for the popular web browser Firefox. With an easy one click installation, users of Firesheep can see who is using an open public wi-fi networks. Not only that, they can click on the user’s name and see what the person is doing online. Many popular website like Facebook, Twitter and Hotmail only encrypt your initial login and then act as an open site once you are logged in. These sites are then openly visible to Firesheep users! Gmail recently switched to encrypting each individual page so it is safe from this fire-breathing sheep.

Apparently (or supposedly), the creator of Firesheep wanted to increase pressure on major sites to improve their encryption and giving hacker-like access to any casual user is one powerful way to do it.

Fortunately, you can download a plug-in to stop the Firesheep plugin. Think of it as the antidote: Force-TLS. This Firefox add-on creates encrypted connections when you log on to web pages like Facebook. However if you are not using Firefox, your browsing could still be at risk.

Firesheep serves as a reminder: password protect your wi-fi networks. Never access personal data on unencrypted sites that you wouldn’t want others to see (banking information, credit card information, lewd photos or message…ahem, Brett Favre). If a site says https instead of http, it is a protected site and you can feel safe from inferno sheep.

If you have any questions, just ask: info@9clouds.com