Have you ever used wireless internet at a hotel? at an airport or even the library? Public wireless hotspots are very easy and convenient to use. No password needed you simply connect to the network and your online. You can get on your Facebook, email, check your bank account etc. The problem is with the convenience of a open wireless hotspot comes a consequence. Have you ever stopped to think could someone steal my usernames and passwords for sites I am logging into on public wifi? The answer to this question is yes they can but it can be prevented. For example if you log into your facebook or twitter someone can steal your password very easily using a program called firesheep. Firesheep makes it so easy that a 10 year old kid could steal your password on a public wifi network. I was going to create a video explaining this and how to defend against it. I have found someone else has already created an excellent video explaining this already. Have a watch and you will have a better understanding.
To download the extension for firefox mention in the video Https Everywhere visit: https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
If you do not use firefox and use Internet Explorer (Which I do not recommend) I recommend using Hot Spot Shield when you are on a public wifi network. You can get it here: http://hotspotshield.com/
The basic principle to know is if a website starts with http:// then your password CAN be stolen on a public network. If it starts with https:// your password CAN NOT be stolen.
Examples:
http://www.facebook.com Your password can be stolen
https://www.facebook.com Your password can not be stolen
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