Is sensitive info secure in public places?

Hi - I'm new to wi-fi and home networking, so I'm probably too ignorant to even ask a question. I have a concern, though, that I'd appreciate your help with. I just bought a new wi-fi equipped laptop, and I plan on taking it on a trip. If I go into a place that provides wireless internet service, are my passwords, bank account information, and other private data on my machine accessible to hackers? Someone told me that I could be sitting in McDonald's surfing the web, and a hacker could be at another table or even outside the building stealing everything on my computer. If I were to log into my checking account, could someone else get my account number or password? What should I do before using the internet in a public place? Thanks in advance for your help. ......Pam

Pam, to directly answer your question, if you are going to be using these public hot spots, it is recommended that you disable file and print sharing on your computer. Doing that will keep the casual snooper from gaining access to your files and folders. Also, I recommend that you keep your web surfing to a minimum, i.e., webmail, casual browsing, games, et al. I do not recommend doing any internet banking and other money related transactions while in a public hot spot. Anyway, I hope I was of some help to you. Take care.

Any financial transaction should be on a page protected by SSL. Opening the certificate and checking the authenticity and certificate chain would be a good start. There's a potential to create alarm and paranoia without explaining that such transactions *should* be protected, it's not like it's all in the clear and instantly sniffable.

If XP, turning on the local firewall or using a third party one is a good idea too.

David.

I'm fully aware SSL transactions. That little tidbit that I posted for Pam was of a personal nature. In other words, It's an old habit I've maintained from the early days of personal computing. To this day, I do all of my financial transactions via ethernet. I apologize for not explaining in detail earlier. Take care.