WHAT!! A Firefox extension that makes scanning for cookie requests on a unsecured WiFi network so easy anyone can do it.
Firesheep, the new browser add-on that lets amateurs hijack users access to your Facebook, Twitter and other popular services. Firesheep is a pulgin to Mozilla’s Firefox browser that shows when anyone on an open unsecure network — such as a coffee shop’s free Wi-Fi network — visits an unsecure site. A simple double-click gives a hacker instant access to logged-on sites ranging from Twitter, Facebook and any other site you may login to that does not have SSL security.
Since researcher Eric Butler released Firesheep on Sunday, the add-on has been downloaded nearly 220,000 times
“It’s extremely common for websites to protect your password by encrypting the initial login, but surprisingly uncommon for websites to encrypt everything else. This leaves the cookie (and the user) vulnerable. HTTP session hijacking (sometimes called “sidejacking”) is when an attacker gets a hold of a user’s cookie, allowing them to do anything the user can do on a particular website. On an open wireless network, cookies are basically shouted through the air, making these attacks extremely easy.”
Eric Butler — Creator of Firesheep
The most important point to note here is that Firesheep is simply a tool. It only highlights how insecure standard security on the web is. Packet sniffers have been around for years, but you can see just how easy it is for someone to get into our accounts if we use unsecure public Wi-Fi or don’t setup the security our own / home networks.
What you can do:
Educate yourself about safe web surfing.
Do Not use a WiFi spot if they do not give you an access key to get on the network.
Do Not login to any website without SSL Securtiy. In your browser you will see https:// instead of just http:// before the web address.
On your own WiFi networks setup the security.
Website Owners:
If you are a website owner that has a login feature for your visitors you can have an SSL Certificate added to your site for around $99 per year. In some cases your site may need to be relinked to utilize the SSL add-on but not very expensive in most cases.
Tags: Firesheep, Secure WIFI, SSL, Website Security, wifi
Categories: Web Security ,Web Surfing