Over at Rabbit-Hole, a commenter posted that my low-tier VPN is unnecessary if you’re using SSL. He’s wrong.
Perhaps I should have titled this “When SSL isn’t foolproof security,” but it’s too late now. Oh well.
When you’re sitting on a strange network (not your home or work network), SSL is vulnerable to a classic man-in-the-middle attack. If you’re paying attention, you should know if your session is being hijacked. But who’s paying attention?
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.