Reply to Can people see what sites you access when you use their wifi?

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[quote=Anonymous]Yes.  This is easily do-able by the owner of the access point (or anyone who has physical access to it).

Also, anyone within range can "sniff" the packets being sent between your computer and an open access point.  That makes it possible to view your activity, though, as mentioned above, many web sites are moving towards SSL (https) connections, so one can normally only see the hostname of the web site being used.  There is a technique called "SSL split" which allows one to proxy the SSL connections to unencrypted connections and actually view the traffic being sent across the wire (air).  This is easy-ish to do in areas where there are many users of open wireless networks (hotels, airports, etc.).  Open access points are only really safe if you use a VPN service (or create your own).

Another interesting point is that many wireless devices save the names of SSIDs to which they have previously connected and actively try to connect to those SSIDs first.  This can reveal a bit about the user (for example, a device that tries to connect to "LoganWiFi" has probably been to the Boston airport recently).  This can be thwarted by regularly clearing "known networks."  Also, it is a good idea to change your device's name from something that identifies you.  Lots of people have things called "Bob's Iphone" and similar, and these names are broadcast across any network to which they are connected.  I suggest obfuscating these device names.

(Source:  I work in information security.)

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