# Can the Router owner read my mails(Wifi)??



## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

..................I'm using the wifi in the trailer park where i'm living\working . Is it possible for the park owners who own the router to "capture" my emails and read them ? Specifically , I'm inquiring about a job at another park close by and exchanging emails for this purpose . , thanks , fordy


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## Labrat407 (Aug 24, 2007)

If you are trying hard enough you can read any email. Is there a reason to suspect this activity?

If so you might want to send them from another location, or use an encrypted mail service like Hushmail or a 3rd party tool to encrypt the mail. The recipient must also be using these tools to read your mail. It adds an extra layer of complexity that might not be worth it.

You should check the Terms of Service for the use of the WiFi. This would probably be illegal.


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

Labrat407 said:


> If you are trying hard enough you can read any email. Is there a reason to suspect this activity?
> 
> If so you might want to send them from another location, or use an encrypted mail service like Hushmail or a 3rd party tool to encrypt the mail. The recipient must also be using these tools to read your mail. It adds an extra layer of complexity that might not be worth it.
> 
> You should check the Terms of Service for the use of the WiFi. This would probably be illegal.


..........I'm not an overly suspicious person , I was just curious how "easy" it was to read other peoples email being funneled thru a router via wifi . And , from your answer I don't think I have anything to worry about . Thanks , fordy


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

If the signal is going through their router, Yes they can read them if they have a bit of knowledge on how to do it.

L


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## pixelphotograph (Apr 8, 2007)

use a program like TOR this will encrypt the data thru the router to your computer.
its easy and its free.
go to the eff.org and look for the TOR Onion Router.


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## pixelphotograph (Apr 8, 2007)

pgp also works well for mail


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Labrat407 said:


> If so you might want to send them from another location, or use an encrypted mail service like Hushmail


hushmail is only encrypted from the server to the recipient. All the info you type into the text box of the web hushmail front end is not encrypted.


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

.............OK , one last question.......To "read" my emails , do they have to Store a copy on their computer as It is being sent , or do they have too have it Displayed upon their screen and just be "there" at the right time ??? , thanks , fordy


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## MadAussieInUSA (Sep 21, 2006)

a packet sniffer will see them in realtime, to read them they have to see them go realtime (unless they log every packet, which would consume masses of space for a wifi router, lots of streams, lots of packets), plus they couldnt read them like you see in an email reader, it would be text with some garbage in them etc.

unless they appear to be super technically savvy, I would not worry about it.
also if you use gmail or hotmail etc, and it has https address and/or padlock icon in the status bar, your ok because that means its encrypted.

ie: gmail in secure mode looks like ( https://mail.google.com/mail/ )


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

MadAussieInUSA said:


> a packet sniffer will see them in realtime, to read them they have to see them go realtime (unless they log every packet, which would consume masses of space for a wifi router, lots of streams, lots of packets), plus they couldnt read them like you see in an email reader, it would be text with some garbage in them etc.
> 
> unless they appear to be super technically savvy, I would not worry about it.
> also if you use gmail or hotmail etc, and it has https address and/or padlock icon in the status bar, your ok because that means its encrypted.
> ...


.......Thanks ! these folks are tightwads so they wouldn't spend any money buying computer programs to snoop on their low paid employes , lol. , thanks , fordy


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

MadAussieInUSA said:


> a packet sniffer will see them in realtime, to read them they have to see them go realtime (unless they log every packet, which would consume masses of space for a wifi router, lots of streams, lots of packets), plus they couldnt read them like you see in an email reader, it would be text with some garbage in them etc.


With any of the free packet sniffers out there I can log every pack, every packet from a specific user or just grab every word after the phase login and password appear. It doesnt take much space to log traffic and with 500gb disk cheap you can get lots of packet sniffers logs.


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## MeanDean (Apr 16, 2002)

fordy said:


> ..................I'm using the wifi in the trailer park where i'm living\working . Is it possible for the park owners who own the router to "capture" my emails and read them ? Specifically , I'm inquiring about a job at another park close by and exchanging emails for this purpose . , thanks , fordy


Perhaps if you say glowing things about the owner's wife - and not so flattering stuff about him - you'll get a definitive answer.

Fact is, those folks who have informed you that the '_packets can be sniffed_' are spot-on. 

And while I think it a bit of a hi-tech chore for individuals operating a trailer park, I would think some form of encryption would get the job done. 

Free and reliable email clients such as Thunderbird will make it a relatively almost-pain-free, one-time setup experience ... usually through free extensions such as enigmail for GnuPG.


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

Packet Sniffers are in use all over the place.

There was a guy sitting at a chain eatery in town that offers free WiFi for patrons.

He was sniffing packets like crazy and gathering all kinds of info.

I just happened to sit down next to him and saw what he was doing on his laptop. He don't like me anymore... Oh well... 

L


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## MeanDean (Apr 16, 2002)

lharvey said:


> Packet Sniffers are in use all over the place.
> 
> There was a guy sitting at a chain eatery in town that offers free WiFi for patrons.
> 
> ...


Well, easy way to handle that - just create an alias on some crackerz bbs via that IP, then start downloading music.

RIAA will take care of the rest.

Just be smart enough not to be there when it all goes down.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

fordy said:


> I'm using the wifi in the trailer park where i'm living\working


I think you have little to worry about in that setting. I suspect that email traffic in a trailer park wouldn't be worth the effort to compromise, and even if it was it's unlikely that a tariler park operator would be savy about network sniffing technology.

Relax and enjoy your WiFi.


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

Agree with Nevada...

I was just stating worst case scenario.

L


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Nevada said:


> I think you have little to worry about in that setting. I suspect that email traffic in a trailer park wouldn't be worth the effort to compromise, and even if it was it's unlikely that a tariler park operator would be savy about network sniffing technology.
> 
> Relax and enjoy your WiFi.


What if its your online bank account id and password. It all goes over the same link.


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## MeanDean (Apr 16, 2002)

Gary in ohio said:


> What if its your online bank account id and password. It all goes over the same link.


It only takes one penetration - and who is to say there isn't someone parked near the router?

Moreover, what happens if the router gets hacked? Are ports secured - meaning does the router have some form of firewall running? Does your PC, especially in said scenario?


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

Exactly Mean Dean !

I have wireless in my work trucks but I am very careful to what service I connect to and keep my encryption high on my data transfers. Since I use encrypted VPN back here to my office, I don't really worry about packet sniffers.

Most 'regular' wifi users don't understand the risks involved with unsecured networks. Maybe the people that don't secure their networks want you to "steal" the service so that they can get something from you.....

L


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