One ping if by land, two if by sea, three if by train…

From the Globe and Mail today on wireless Internet access nearly everywhere:

By air, sea or rail, travellers can stay connected

_Until recently, going on-line on the road meant Internet access from hotels and perhaps Internet cafés. Getting a connection while actually moving was more difficult and usually slow, using cellular modems and the basic e-mail services available on a few airlines.

That’s changing. Mobile Internet access is offering companies in the highly competitive travel and transportation industries an advantage over rivals — and a new source of revenue._

The techie in me at first says “Yeah!”. Heck I take my laptop to my friend’s house to connect through his wireless network when we get together to talk about projects together. But thinking about this two things pop into my mind. First, off no one is really talking about security in these hot spots. Here’s a good quote from Wi-Fi Free Spot:

You should never conduct unsecured transactions that include any account or password information over public hotspots using FTP, email, or the Web. Try to use SSL for email (POP and SMTP), or read your email with a Web browser using an SSL connection. Ask your ISP if they offer SSL ecure web-based email.

Glenn Fleishman, author of the book The Wireless Networking Starter Kit, sums it up thusly, “ When data leaves your computer, if it’s not on an encrypted link, anyone can read everything you send and receive.“

Here’s what the Wi-Fi Alliance says:

Wireless networks in public areas and “HotSpots” like Internet cafes may not provide any security. Although some service providers do provide this with their custom software, many HotSpots leave all security turned off to make it easier to access and get on the network in the first place. If security is important to you the best way to achieve this when you are connecting back to your office is to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). If you do not have access to a VPN and security is important, you may want to limit your wireless network use in these areas to non-critical e-mail and basic Internet surfing.

So here are Joe and Jane business people and Bill and Sally vacationers, etc all surfing away sending e-mail and all of the transmissions are in the free and clear. Now, you ask, should I worry about this? Yeah you should. I will grant, that there isn’t hard data on how often this goes on, but you can’t tell if someone has set up a machine in a closet of the store next door to your favourite hot spot to capture all the data coming through. Is it worth the risk? At the very least you need a good firewall to protect you. I suggest ZoneAlarm. The free version is fine for this. It should auto-sense the network and you just click “Not trusted” and your machine is safely hidden. This doesn’t encrpyt the data you’re sending, it just makes sure that no one is going to snoop into your files directly on your computer.

Okay, so let’s say that you’re now sufficiently paranoid that you have the firewall installed and have some kind of VPN set up (HotSpotVPN has a nice monthly service if you don’t have other means of connecting securely). Here’s another deeper question: “When are you allowed to take a break?” So you’re traveling from Vancouver to Victoria on BC Ferries (no wireless access there, yet) or Toronto to Montreal on the train. Do you feel compelled to work? What about reading a good, non-work related book? What about watching the scenery go by? Taking a nap? As much as I enjoy being able to connect nearly where ever I am, I think sometimes we should take a break. Enjoy the travel time for what it once was, downtime from the office. Collect your thoughts, read, relax, recharge. You might be more ready to work when you’ve arrived than if you’ve worked solid from the word go. Give it a try.