A new Firefox add-on, Firesheep, has created controversy by allowing users who access unsecured Wi-Fi networks to gain control of the Facebook of Twitter accounts of other users of that same Wi-Fi network.
Seattle software developer Eric Butler wrote the add-on to highlight the lack of security surrounding user logins and cookies on popular websites such as Facebook.
With many social networking sites being so unsecure, Butler is attempting to make web developers aware of how easy it is to access users’ personal information.
Butler explained in a blog post, how the add-on works.Once Firesheep has been installed, it displays a sidebar in your web browser showing other users who are using the same wireless hotspot and are logged-in to an unsecure site. You then double-click on a user to browse that website as if you were that person.
The aim of Firesheep is to send a warning to people using social networking sites that they aren’t secure. Butler wants to make site administrators aware of this, and encourage them to start using the more secure HTTPS protocol, which continuously encrypts data as it is being sent around the internet.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
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