wireless browsing

edi7on

Hi

How safe is it to use my opera browser to fetch my e-mails via wifi with my laptop in public hotspots

Is it possible for anyone to read my password while I fetch the e-mails?

or am I just being paranoid?


Thanks

Browntoa

this sort of says it's not, unless you use Gmail

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6929258.stm

Using public wi-fi hotspots has got much riskier as security experts unveil tools that nab login data over the air.

Demonstrated at the Black Hat hacker conference in Las Vegas, the tools make it far easier to steal account details, said Robert Graham of Errata Security.
Identifying files called cookies are stolen in the attack which let hackers pose as their victim. This gives attackers access to mail messages or the page someone maintains on sites such as MySpace or Facebook

and further on


There were some defences against the attack, said Mr Graham.
Attackers would be unable to change a password and take over an account as most sites ask people to re-enter their old password before letting them make changes. Also, said Mr Graham, some webmail services, such as GMail, let people encrypt all the data passed back and forth as they deal with their mail.