Dear Journal,
This is where my journey begins. 35,000 feet in the air and as soon as he’s able he powers me on, AGAIN. Whatever happened to “Sorry for a delayed reply, I was on a plane!” Come on man, enjoy 9½ hours of uninterrupted time staring into the clouds, reading that in-flight magazine, or better yet catching up on your sleep! Nope, he’s not listening to me as he’s is impatiently trying to connect to in-flight Wi-Fi, along with many other passengers on this United flight to London. Yes, he flies United. Does he ever learn anything?!
Did you know that a Wi-Fi attack on an open network can take less than 2 seconds. This is scary! Hello? Are you listening to me? You must know how to use Wi-Fi hotspots securely and if you must stay connected, can you at least use a VPN connection?! Or better yet, power me down, sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight.
Did you know that the main Wi-Fi network that passengers are supposed to use on this flight is no different from the public Wi-Fi available at any coffee shop, mall, hotel? I always thought it’s a lot more secure, considering all the security measures we must go through to even travel by air. Nope, the network is wide open.
It’s super easy for hackers to use a man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack to eavesdrop on your data as it travels from point A (your laptop for example) to point B (a website) and see which websites you’re browsing, emails that you’re sending and receiving, and passwords that you use to log in to Facebook.
GOOD BOY! He’s logging into the WatchGuard Firebox SSL VPN. I taught him well!
Download A Field Guide to Secure Wi-Fi–Observations From Your Laptop eBook and continue with me on my adventure.
Until next time,
Mac