Hotels Injecting Paid Ads into Wifi

[chipgallo]

I don't travel often, but when I do there are usually computing devices in my baggage. This apparent trend of injecting advertising in the hotel WiFi is alarming and the fact that it can break web pages adds to the abusive nature. Since it is Freakout Friday, here is my contribution. Caution: this article contains technical jargon and may be incomprehensible to non-Geek readers. Just keep browsing if you don't know what "SQL injection" means.

http://justinsomnia.org/2012/04/hote...ipt-injection/

[Tony]

It's been a while for me, but I can't recall getting anything injected. I wonder if I could use a vpn to get around it? I don't really think phone tethering is the answer at today's outrageous data rates.

[JoeB]

I saw "javascript-injection" at the end, and said "that's the problem right there." I know not everyone is tech savy, but allowing anything to run javascript from an untrusted source is asking for trouble. I use noscript extension to prevent this kind of crud happening (it is not for everyone, because you'd be amazed on how much js is used for everything, including tracking your every move). Would be interesting to see if it blocks this - pretty sure it would.

In any case, being outraged like the author feigns is a little much. Connecting to any network you don't own is a risk. I'd say install some simple addons and forget about it.

[Tony]

I had Noscript in Firefox the last I used it. But it really was a pita and I doubt it actually saved me from anything because every time I noticed missing elements from a page I would just have to manually allow it.

[cindylu]

. . . Connecting to any network you don't own is a risk. I'd say install some simple addons and forget about it.

Excellent caution and advice. I don't know much about 'puters but I do know when not to hook up. I also prefer to use my nook in certain situations so as to avoid a lot of the crud.