Can public wirless connections (ex: coffee shop) see what page you are looking at?
I am unsure of the security in public places. What can the server see?
ok pervs I was going to check my bank account
I am unsure of the security in public places. What can the server see?
ok pervs I was going to check my bank account
johntrottier
Favorite Answer
It all depends on the hardware the hot spot is using
A low end wireless router will provide little if any information to the operator.
After that, the system can be built up to the point that it will track your every move.
Given that you are on their network, they can if they wish, examine every packet you send or receive.
So if you are doing things you never ever want to see the light of day, never use a public network and never ever use a public wireless network
Edit:
DO NOT check your bank accounts on a public network.
The the effort required to record data as it flows across the network is trivial
Once the data is recorded, searching it for known banking web sites is also a trivial task.
Once the useful data is separated, busting the account comes next.
A lot depends on the security scheme for your bank, but it has been done.
Again - DO NOT use public networks for on line banking
Anonymous
They can see everything that you look at, and they can capture your MAC address so that they can individually identify your laptop each time you connect to their network. The MAC address can sometimes also tell them what brand of laptop you are using. For example if you are using an Air Book or an HP laptop.
Every single webpage you use, they can see. Most won't be able to see what you do on that web page (for example, if you go to Yahoo Answers they can see which questions you looked at, but not which you voted up or down).
In reality, most won't care. There are two many people on their networks for them to bother looking. But if the FBI asked them, then they could hand over a detailed record of every website that you viewed.
Anonymous
If the web page you are using is encrypted (https:), they can see the address but not the contents.
Anonymous
The Coffee Hop
jasperj69
Yes and No... It really depends on the equipment they are using to allow you to access the internet.