Cookies help us display personalized product recommendations and ensure you have great shopping experience.

By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    data analytics and truck accident claims
    How Data Analytics Reduces Truck Accidents and Speeds Up Claims
    7 Min Read
    predictive analytics for interior designers
    Interior Designers Boost Profits with Predictive Analytics
    8 Min Read
    image fx (67)
    Improving LinkedIn Ad Strategies with Data Analytics
    9 Min Read
    big data and remote work
    Data Helps Speech-Language Pathologists Deliver Better Results
    6 Min Read
    data driven insights
    How Data-Driven Insights Are Addressing Gaps in Patient Communication and Equity
    8 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Firesheep and social network security: What you need to know
Share
Notification
Font ResizerAa
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > IT > Security > Firesheep and social network security: What you need to know
Security

Firesheep and social network security: What you need to know

Editor SDC
Editor SDC
2 Min Read
SHARE

Social network security is all the talk this month, as Firefox recently launched it’s Firesheep plugin.  In a nutshell, the new plugin makes it possible for users to hijack other people’s social network connections if they are using a public Wifi connection. 

Social network security is all the talk this month, as Firefox recently launched it’s Firesheep plugin.  In a nutshell, the new plugin makes it possible for users to hijack other people’s social network connections if they are using a public Wifi connection. 

How does it work?  Most social networks, including Facebook,  authenticate clients with cookies. If someone is using a public WiFi connection, the cookies are sniffable. Firesheep uses wincap to capture and display the authentication information for accounts it sees, allowing the user to hijack a connection.

More Read

Text Analytics for Legacy BI Analysis
What you need to know about the evils of Firesheep (a gateway drug to more evil hacking)
Bridging the Communications Gap Between Utilities and Consumers
Top 10 Software Glitches of 2011
The Big Data Security Transformation

Sounds like a potential problem for social network users in airports, hotels and the other 1,000,000,000 places that offer public Wifi.  And how about businesses that employ remote agencies, consultants or employees to manage their social networks? 

Fortunately, there are a few ways to protect yourself or your business from social network hijackers.  The most basic include:

1) Only visiting sites using HTTP Secure (beginning with https://), which make user cookies invisible to Firesheep.

2) Downloading the Firefox extension Force-TLS,  where you can assign and force which sites you want to use the HTTPS protocol. 

3) Trying a program like HTTPS Everywhere, which forces every website you visit to use HTTPS protocol.  

What about those who own or manage social network or other hijackable websites?  In order to protect your users and keep your website secure, try adding a SSL certificate to your website.  A Secure Link SSL certificate  shows visitors that your web site is safe for them to submit their personal data and gives users peace of mind when navigating the social web. 

Read more at No-IP Blog.

Share This Article
Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn
Share

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

data analytics and truck accident claims
How Data Analytics Reduces Truck Accidents and Speeds Up Claims
Analytics Big Data Exclusive
predictive analytics for interior designers
Interior Designers Boost Profits with Predictive Analytics
Analytics Exclusive Predictive Analytics
big data and cybercrime
Stopping Lateral Movement in a Data-Heavy, Edge-First World
Big Data Exclusive
AI and data mining
What the Rise of AI Web Scrapers Means for Data Teams
Artificial Intelligence Big Data Exclusive

Stay Connected

1.2kFollowersLike
33.7kFollowersFollow
222FollowersPin

You Might also Like

Facebook’s ThreatExchange to Help Cyber Security Experts Coordinate Their Efforts Against Hackers

4 Min Read

How to Crack SSH Logins to Get to Your Data [VIDEO]

4 Min Read

Walking Through The Front Door: SQL Injections

7 Min Read

Keeping Focus on Mission IT at ODNI CIO

5 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

data-driven web design
5 Great Tips for Using Data Analytics for Website UX
Big Data
giveaway chatbots
How To Get An Award Winning Giveaway Bot
Big Data Chatbots Exclusive

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?