Wireless Hotspots Hacking into Laptops?

[Pacinamac23]

Let me set a scenerio here.

I am looking for wireless access points and my laptop automatically makes a connection with one. As many of you know, this is fairly easy and happens frequently.

My question to you is, the person who has control of the access point, what kind of access would they have to my laptop? What kind of security concerns are there?

Most people are concerened about the reverse of what I am saying, but it is almost a spider/fly scenerio here. If my Laptop automatically connects to any APs it is near, what kinds of things should i worry about, and does anyone know of any sites with detailed information on this?

 

[prometheusxls]

They would be able to see any traffic coming across their network. Any shared files or open ports would be open to them as well.

Get a software firewall and use only secure communications. ftps, https, etc... for sensative data. HTH.

 

[masul0100]

Concerning connecting to your computer XP service pack 2 has a pretty nice firewall service built in, when ever they release it (I use the beta). As for capturing your traffic most people who have an open WAP that you can connect to are not going to be able to sniff and decode your traffic.

Masul