Public Wi-Fi may turn your life into an open notebook

Don't assume wireless hot spots are secure. 'Sniffers' may be hacking nearby.
By David Colker
LA Times

April 22, 2007

No one in the evening crowd at a Starbucks in Pasadena knew Humphrey Cheung.

But Cheung, quietly sipping hot chocolate and working on his laptop, knew things about them.

Several tables away was a guy sitting alone with his own laptop. "He's starting a business," Cheung said. And the young couple in the far corner? "They're getting married," he confided.

Cheung isn't psychic. He had hacked into the coffee shop's wireless Internet connection on his Toshiba laptop. It took him all of about five minutes to do so, using free software available online.

Public Wi-Fi is very handy for perusing the Internet away from the office or home. Just remember that you may have company while surfing.

Once hooked into the system, Cheung was able to monitor the online activity of other laptops in the shop.

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