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Old 05-29-2014, 09:52 PM   #21
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Quote:
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Probably should have a tin hat too so they don't steal your passwords from your brain. Not sure what can be done.
I'm not changing my passwords all the time. I have enough trouble as it is.
I have one for my banking and one for everything else. I only bank from home on my "secure" wifi.
If somebody wants to log on to FGRV as me and argue about tow vehicles and WDHitches, they can just go ahead.
I'm the same way! My financial password is totally different from all the forums. For those, I picked something I could remember! Go ahead, steal my password and login as me. Add to my post counts.. go ahead.
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Old 05-29-2014, 10:01 PM   #22
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Secure wifi-right! I've had my Visa cloned twice in the last 2 years- what a hassle redoing my autopays. However, that's nothing compared to someone placing a keystroke program on your computer.
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Old 05-29-2014, 10:09 PM   #23
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Air quotes "secure".
I don't download anything that I don't know where it's been.
Got an email from a friend of my wife, asking why I hadn't opened the e-card she had sent.
Still vulnerable, but best I can do.
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Old 05-30-2014, 10:18 AM   #24
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On our drive to Chilliwack back last Sept. we stayed at the Super 8 in Moscow, Idaho, and paid with Visa. Nancy just saw a new charge on her monthly statement, made at the same motel, for $300-plus. It was dated while we were at the Moab Rally in Utah. Visa made good, gave us a credit but we had to cancel the card.

You never know.
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Old 05-30-2014, 10:20 AM   #25
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.

I currently use Telus mobile phone service, with both an iPhone (which can act as a WiFi hotspot) and an AirCard mobile hotspot on the same service plan (with shared data).
how does one do this? I'm confused.
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Old 05-30-2014, 11:13 AM   #26
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alternative to wi-fi

May I suggest that while on the road, dropping into the local town library and using their free, public wired computers. Almost every library has moved into the digital age these days. And wired beats wireless for security, and usually speed, too.

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Old 05-30-2014, 11:14 AM   #27
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Most Smartphones have the ability to be their own mobil hotspot. On my android I go to settings then choose More Netorks. It then shows Tethering and portable hotspot. This sends a wifi signal out and I can pair the tablet to the phone via Bluetooth and use the phone's data plan. This ability is a function of rate plans, and some with older plans may not be able to do this.
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Old 06-01-2014, 11:49 AM   #28
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I currently use Telus mobile phone service, with both an iPhone (which can act as a WiFi hotspot) and an AirCard mobile hotspot on the same service plan (with shared data).
Quote:
Originally Posted by J Mac View Post
how does one do this? I'm confused.
A mobile network is a radio system which carries voice calls, and data to and from the internet; it is the current version of the "cellular phone network". A mobile plan normally includes some limited amount of data; in my case I pay for a block of data shared between the devices on same plan.
I am currently using the Telus network, with a SharePlus plan.
A WiFi network is a radio system which carries data over a short distance. It can include a central hardware component that connects a WFi network to the rest of the world: an access point, or hotspot. It costs nothing to run, except any cost of the internet connection if there is one.
Every portable device I have that can use an internet connection includes WiFi hardware.
Combine the two in one device and you have a mobile hotspot: it talks to whatever WiFi-equipped devices you have (for me, that's a tablet, a PC, and a Mac) over WiFi, and connects them to the internet through the mobile network. Where ever there is mobile network service (which is certainly not everwhere we take an RV), I turn on the the mobile hotspot and connect my tablet and computers to it by WiFi.
I have a Sierra Wireless AirCard 763S, which exists just to do this; we also have an iPhone 5S, which like most current smartphones can be told to do the same thing. The iPhone needs to be told (in the settings) to act as a hotspot.
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Old 06-02-2014, 09:10 PM   #29
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On my android I go to settings then choose More Netorks. It then shows Tethering and portable hotspot. This sends a wifi signal out and I can pair the tablet to the phone via Bluetooth and use the phone's data plan.
WiFi and Bluetooth are two different radio communication systems for computer networks. With some phones you could get from your tablet to your phone, and thus on to the mobile network, using either WiFi (the phone is a mobile hotspot) or using Bluetooth... but they're not the same thing.
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Old 06-06-2014, 10:52 AM   #30
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You don't need to worry about using secure/unsecure WiFi as long as your financial institution uses a secured connection (SSL). I am not aware of a legitimate financial institution that wouldn't secure the connection.

Keep in mind, if you are on a public network of any kind (wifi whether secured or unsecured), you want to make sure your firewall is up to date because anybody on that network could attempt to access information on your machine if they network admins haven't setup their routing to secure the network users.

Malware/skimmers/dishonest waitresses/clerks are the most common way you'll inadvertently hand out your CC information.
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Old 06-06-2014, 11:08 AM   #31
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Scriptx.
Is this so for iPhones and the like, with no fire walls etc?
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Old 06-06-2014, 11:30 AM   #32
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Scriptx.
Is this so for iPhones and the like, with no fire walls etc?
Good question, a person would have to install a program called SSH to get access to your iPhone, which is currently not possible. However, if you jailbreak your phone, all bets are off...
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Old 06-06-2014, 09:54 PM   #33
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If you need to ensure privacy for stuff like banking you can use a virtual private network (VPN). Big companies use them routinely to make sure employees in unsecured locations have secure access to their networks. VPNs create a encrypted connection between your device and their network. There are private VPN service providers that anyone can use. If you plan to do all your banking over public networks I would suggest a subscription to a good VPN service provider. That way, anyone who is snooping won't be able to eavesdrop on you.
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Old 06-06-2014, 10:02 PM   #34
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I have VPN for our company network when I need to telecommute. I have a "key" that gives me access. Yes, it's a physical "key" that I need to put into a USP port. YMMV
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Old 06-06-2014, 10:34 PM   #35
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My employer has the same thing, they look like those little memory sticks. Securing devices like phones and tablets is one of the hottest topics in computer security right now. So many people want to work from public places. The best VPN providers have the right software to secure communications with a variety of devices on your end. It's also worth remembering that they will be unencrypting what you send before sending it out to the Internet through their connection so you need to pick a trustworthy provider, not just the cheapest and continue to use your secured (SSL) connection.

Most people don't need this level of security but for those who do it's available. For myself I usually set up the payments I anticipate needing while I'm gone in advance and pay the rest when I get home. If I was fulltiming it might be a different story.
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Old 06-07-2014, 12:49 AM   #36
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To add to this, a VPN encrypts what we call plain text traffic. Example, the password you enter for this forum is plain text because the site doesn't have SSL. Your banks, Amazon, etc. will encrypt your connection to them so that your information is not plain text and can travel unmolested over a public network. Hopefully that isn't too technical... If your bank doesn't have SSL, I'd get a new bank... Most workplaces will require a VPN connection because grabbing files, virtualization, etc. is not encrypted and the VPN encrypts those non encrypted actions so hackers cannot get sensitive information.
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Old 06-07-2014, 08:36 AM   #37
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They can certainly see which bank website you went to and if you are using your email address as a login ID on your bank and other websites they could get that after a little time watching you. And that brings us full circle back to the stuff earlier in the thread about being smart with your passwords and not using the same one everywhere. I would add using strong passwords, not something that is easy to crack. Another common mistake is to use kids names, pets names, or something else that you might be chatting about online as passwords.

If you have a phone that will do it, using it to create a private wifi hotspot rather than doing sensitive transactions over a public network would be prudent. Websites like that are mostly text and won't use much of your data plan. Use the public wifi network for the data heavy stuff like video.
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Old 06-07-2014, 10:28 AM   #38
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Good advice about passwords. The internet is a public network regardless of how it's accessed, but you are more situationally secure with a hotspot. I personally don't bother and worry more about people with skimmers, clerks, waitresses and malware. They are the main methods people use for CC, your mail is the weak spot for everything else (eg phishing scams)...
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Old 06-07-2014, 11:24 AM   #39
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I agree with you on the main threat. I dislike letting my credit card out of my sight and I watch for skimmers. I like to pay at the front in restaurants so someone doesn't have time alone with my credit card. However, there have been enough reports of information loss with public wifi that I chose to take precautions. YMMV.
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