WizGidget

Last week I mentioned that email is one thing you could do safely at a public WiFi, IF you have your email configured to use SSL. SSL stands for “Secure Sockets Layer.” It builds a virtual “tunnel” through the network, much the same way that the VPN connection  does. The data is encrypted in such a way that someone snooping the network stream would have a very, very difficult time cracking the encryption so that they’d have access to your information. The entire data stream is encrypted, including login information such as username and password.  Without SSL, someone on the same local network as yourself could easily “snoop” the network stream and read all of your information, including usernames and passwords.  I would recommend using secure email even if you only use email from home.

Most email providers have the ability to support SSL-encrypted email. There’s two streams for email, both the incoming which is either IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) or more typically POP (Post Office Protocol), and the outgoing stream which is SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol). SMTP is the protocol used to send email; it’s also the protocol used to send email between email servers. From a network perspective, each protocol uses a standard “port”, for instance, POP normally uses port 110 and SMTP normally uses port 25. SSL encrypted POP and SMTP normally use port 995 and 465, respectively. IMAP normally uses port 143, while SSL imap uses either port 585 or 993, depending on whether it’s normal IMAP tunneled through an SSL connection, or a newer IMAP standard that incorporates SSL. Your email provider should be able to tell you what ports to use for their email servers. Often they provide this information on their web page. For instance, Yahoo has a web page with instructions for setting up your email application (such as Outlook or Outlook Express); the URL is http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/yahoomail/mailplus/pop/pop-35.html.  Alas, Yahoo’s pop-able email account is a fee-based service.  Google on the other hand has free pop-able email.  Their instructions are at http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=75291

Basically, setting up secure email in Outlook or Outlook Express involves turning on the SSL layer, setting the correct port numbers, and of course testing that your email still works.  For Outlook, click the Tools menu, then pick Email Accounts.  The “View or change” radio button is selected by default, just click the “Next” button, then pick the account to change, and click the “Change” button on the right.  In the window that pops up, click the “More Settings” button, then the Advanced tab.  Check both of the SSL checkboxes — POP should automatically reset to port 995, but you’ll have to change SMTP to port 465 if that’s what’s required.  Outlook Express is similar: click Tools, then Accounts, then the mail tab.  Pick an account, and click the properties button.  Next click the Advanced tab, and make the same settings as Outlook.

Spouse Ann wants to know what’s all the hoopla in the news recently about the Internet running out of addresses, so we’ll explore that next week.  Have your propeller beanie ready.

Last week we talked about some of the ways that your internet surfing can become risky from a networking perspective.

The first thing for keeping safe at home is either to use a wired network or to make sure your wireless router is using WPA or WPA2 security with a “Pre-Shared Key” (PSK) which is basically a really long password.  Being an engineer I like using some form of scientific number like Planck’s Constant that I’ve memorized  as the PSK.  Other people like to use a phrase or lyric that means something to them and is thus easy to remember.  It doesn’t matter what you use, but the more characters or numbers it has the more difficult it will be to guess.  Using WPA security effectively makes your wireless session undecipherable to other computers, even ones that are connected to your wireless network.  It also makes it fairly impossible for someone without your PSK to connect to your wireless network.  This is important, because as we discussed you really don’t want strangers and neighbors to have access to your network – it’s like leaving your front door unlocked when you’re away.

Most wireless networks at coffee shops, airports & hotels don’t use WPA security because that would make it difficult for their customers to use the network.  So, while you’re connected to that network, your computer is exposed to others who might find your information useful.  You could just have fun browsing the web, but using a web-based email reader, ebay, facebook, or anything that requires a login is not a good idea.  In other words you can’t do anything really useful. You can be somewhat useful catching up with your email… if you’ve made sure your connection to your email server is encrypted using SSL.  Most email providers and email applications like Outlook can handle an SSL connection, if you configure it properly.  But that’s only going to help if you’re using your own computer (laptop or tablet since you’re at a coffee house, right?), AND you’ve configured your email properly.  We’ll discuss that next week.

Pretty much anything you’re going to do in a web browser needs similar security, and fortunately there is a solution in the form of a “VPN” service.  VPN means Virtual Private Network – it’s a software method for encrypting your entire internet session so that nobody between your computer and your VPN provider can snoop your web session.  VPN works by configuring a virtual encrypted “tunnel” between your computer and the VPN provider.  Just do a search for “VPN provider” and you’ll find a number of companies that provide this service for varying prices.  I recommend checking out any company that you pick, because while your neighbors won’t be able to snoop your session, the VPN company can.  Google the company name or domain and see if anything nasty shows up before you sign up.  For instance, when I was doing the research for this article, at least one of the sites listed on vpnpreviews.com was flagged  by my antivirus program as being a fraudulent site.