Does having an unencrypted wireless network...

[thirtythree]

make it possible for third parties to see information that passes over the network, or does it just make it easier for third parties to make use of your internet connection?

 

[ScottMac]

Both.

Connecting is like any other client on your network, and once connected, a "sniffer" can collect the traffic and provide a decode ... just like any other connected machine.

FWIW

Scott

 

[nweaver]

Check out airopeek. I can sniff packets, log them, and reconstruct later. This won't matter much for s/w encrypted streams (ssl, ssh, etc) but wide open stuff (ftp, telnet) I can watch your passwords, I can use the packets to reconstruct whatever you downloaded/uploaded, etc.

 

[kamper]

Originally posted by: nweaver
:evil: Check out airopeek. I can sniff packets, log them, and reconstruct later. This won't matter much for s/w encrypted streams (ssl, ssh, etc) but wide open stuff (ftp, telnet) I can watch your passwords, I can use the packets to reconstruct whatever you downloaded/uploaded, etc. :evil:

Fixed.