How to surf safely in hotel rooms?

Question

I travel frequently and usually use the wireless interenet offered in most hotels. I'd appreciate links to articles on how I can surf safely. Also, your tips would be appreciated as well.

By the way, I frequently book flights and hotel rooms while I'm on the road...and I want to keep my info secure.

Answer 1

When web-surfing on the road (with a laptop), here's a few things that I have I use.

1) Install an anti-virus program... It's just common sense as you don't know where those files (including web pages) have been!

You can get Avast! Antivirus for free at http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

2) Install a Firewall. This will prevent hackers from getting into your computer & prevent malware from getting out (to infect others). This is also gives you some paranoia control.

You can get ZoneAlarm at http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en

3) Use Firefox or Opera as your default browser. Internet Explorer has a lot of security flaws in it, making it the preferred browser for hackers.

You can get Firefox at http://www.getfirefox.com
You can get Opera at http://www.opera.com

4) For Firefox, install NoScript & IE Tab extentions.

NoScript increases your security by preventing sites that you don't trust from running scripts & plugins. You can get it at https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/722/

IE Tab allows you to run Internet Explorer within Firefox when you're visiting a site that doesn't support Firefox (like Yahoo! Music & Microsoft Updates). That way you can use Internet Explorer when you have no other options.

You can download IE Tab extension at https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1419/

Finally, when using WiFi connections... ALWAYS GO WITH SECURED NETWORKS! WiFi networks that use WEP or WPA encryption will help secure any data that's being transmitted between you & the WiFi router.

Answer 2

I don't know of any articles that can help you, but here a few pointers:

Make sure that the wireless connection is encrypted. If you can get on the network without entering a password or encryption key, then everyone can see your data!

If the connection itself is not encrypted, it is still possible to transmit encrypted data. Web sites which handle monetary transactions almost always encrypt themselves to protect from spying and identity theft. On Firefox (Firefox is a free web browser that is safer than Internet Explorer--available for almost every operating system), you can see that a page is secure when the address bar turns yellow (and there is a lock to the right of the address). To verify the encryption, click on the lock.

Also, if you would like your web traffic to be anonymous, you can try using a proxy service. TOR is the best anonymous on the net; it's supported by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which fights to protect online freedom.

Answer 3

Surfing safely in a Hotel/Motel is no different than surfing safely at home.

Have good AV and AS programs loaded on your computer.

Using a laptop with Wi-Fi need some additional protections. Make sure you laptop uses WPA or WPA2 security. WEP is worthless because it has been broken. This Kim Komando Site addresses Wi-Fi security.

http://www.komando.com/tips/index.aspx?id=1629

Answer 4

See link for some points about it.

To add more protection:
(1) Use Firefox which is very better and faster browser than IE.
(2) Use ZoneAlarm. Firewall is the number one protection to computer.
(3) Use anti-spyware such as ad-aware SE personal or from Yahoo anti-spy.

Answer 5

Untill otherwise, your system is protected with software and hardware firewall, and behind a proxy connection, you can't say you are safe even connecting while at home. So make sure your security of the system is perfect.

Answer 6

You are absolutely right to be a bit concerned. You should be using a firewall to prevent intrusion. With Windows XP with SP2, you can use the Windows Firewall. Check the Control Panel to be sure that it is active. If you have an earlier version of windows, then go to http://www.zonelabs.com and get the free version of Zone Alarm.

You should have an anti-spyware solution on your computer. I recommend that you go to http://www.download.com and get AD-AWARE and SpyBot Search & Destory. Install, run, update and scan your computer with both programs.

Answer 7

What you do is use the sites which have the Verisign secure site logo on their site and use HTTPS instead of HTTP to access yahoo mail and hotmail etc.

Look for sites which have a HTTPS url instead of http as https stands for secure socket layer.

Happy Surfing :-)