Your Business Is your Rivals’ Business

But what if you think your data isn’t important enough for someone to snoop on? Perhaps you are just browsing sites, without logging in to any e-mail systems or Web applications that require passwords. Your system should be safe then, right? Not necessarily. Imagine that you’re using airport Wi-Fi while returning from a trade show. Instead of checking the hundreds of e-mail messages waiting for you (unlikely, right?), you decide to browse your competitors’ Websites, looking for ideas. Or maybe you elect to research potential acquisition targets. In the background, however, your e-mail software detects an Internet connection and starts to download your e-mail. A colleague back at headquarters sees your instant-messenger status change to ‘online’ and sends you a panicked plea: “Huge problem @ factory. Possible recall. Call Bob ASAP!” Armed with nothing more than wireless packet analyzer software, a fellow conference attendee in the same seating area may be able to glean competitive intelligence based solely on the Websites that you visit and the (probably unencrypted) instant messages you receive—not to mention the personal e-mail from the recruiter indicating that you’re ready to jump ship, or the notes reflecting your relationship problems with your signify cant other. In short, the “other guy” is reading your personal messages before you are, and you didn’t even do anything.

Source of Information : PC World July 2010