Lifehacker on the WiFiance

What wifi sniffers can find out about you (from www.lifehacker.com)

New York Times tech writer David Pogue - who says he's not one of the "privacy paranoid" - describes his shock when someone tracked his online activity on an open wifi network at a public coffee shop while he browsed and emailed. Using the free Mac program Eavesdrop, Pogue said this packet sniffer grabbed:

  • Every copy of every e-mail message I sent *and* received.
  • A list of the Web sites I visited.
  • Even, incredibly, the graphics that had appeared on the Web sites I had visited.

Apparently Pogue doesn't get his email over SSL (tsk tsk, David!). Eavesdrop is not available for download at the moment since all of the Times' tech section readership is hammering it right now. Just remember kids, SSL is your friend.