Firesheep is very easy to block; all you need to do is access websites through their secure https connection (i.e. using https://www.google.com instead of http://www.google.com). Plugins like HTTPS Everywhere made this easy by automatically forcing your browser to use the https versions of popular websites.

Some websites started including an option to use the https version of the site by default. Gmail enabled this feature way back in 2008 (making it the default setting for everyone in January 2010), and even though it made the site a little slower, it was well worth it knowing your emails were safe from prying eyes.

Better late than never, Facebook recently announced that they too will include an option to browse the site via https by default. This option is gradually rolling out to all users starting today (I don’t have it yet at the time of this writing), with the full transition taking a few weeks.

To enable https connections by default on Facebook, expand the Account Security section of your Account Settings page. Click the check box under Secure Browsing (https) to enable the new feature.

As with all encrypted connections, there are a few things to know before making the switch. Https connections will probably be a little slower than standard unencrypted connections, and not all 3rd-party plugins will work right away. Facebook says they are working hard to resolve any issues with https connections.

Facebook is working to improve security in other ways as well. If Facebook detects suspicious activity on your account, they’ve started using a new feature called “Social Authentication” to confirm you are who you say you are. If you use Facebook in North Dakota at 8am and access it later that day from Moscow, a screen will appear asking you to identify a friends in a series of pictures. If you correctly identify your friends, Facebook has better certainty your account hasn’t been hacked.

If you’re interested in other ways to keep your Facebook account secure (like preventing your friends from writing terrible status updates on your profile), check out my previous guide about enabling account security with login notifications.

The post Farewell Firesheep, Facebook Rolls Out Secure HTTPS Option first appeared on Techerator.

Last Friday, Google began rolling out encrypted web search using SSL, which means your searches are encrypted between your computer and Google.  When somebody tries “watching” your encrypted search results, they’ll only get data which is essentially useless.

How to use encrypted Google Search

Performing an encrypted search is easy.  Simply visit https://www.google.com whenever you want to do a secure search (note the https instead of the standard http).

This feature is still in beta and may not be available internationally yet, but Google has been busy rolling it out to additional countries over the last few days.  Please note that encrypted search is not currently available for Google Image search or Google Maps, although those services may be supported in the future.

What encryption means

In order for encryption to be used properly, it’s important to understand what it does.  Using encrypted search will not hide your searches from other people on your computer or hide them from your history.  Instead, encryption protects your search from being viewed by a third party on the network while it is transmitted between your computer and Google.

Think of it this way: when searching with encrypted search, your search is converted to a code with a unique key that only your computer and Google knows.  If somebody without the key tries viewing this data while it is being transferred, it will just come out as jibberish.

Conclusion

Encryption does come with a small price: you may notice that your searches are not quite as fast as the unencrypted version.  This is just the nature of encrypting your data, and if you want to keep your searches confidential, it’s a worthwhile price to pay.

Amidst dozens of privacy woes on the internet, it’s good news when a company releases a more secure way of using their service.  Think you’ll use Google’s encrypted search over the standard search?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

For more details, check out Google’s SSL search information.

The post Hide Your Google Searches from Prying Eyes with SSL Encrypted Search first appeared on Techerator.

Gmail started offering secure https access to their web-based email service in 2008, but it was optional and had to be manually enabled in your settings.  Google explains that they were reluctant to push https access to all users because with extra security comes a compromise: secure data travels slower than unsecure data.  After looking at the security/latency tradeoff for web applications, however, they decided to encrypt all traffic by default.

The new https feature is currently being rolled out to all Gmail users, but you can set it manually yourself in Gmail settings if it hasn’t taken effect yet.  For users already using https in Gmail – good work, you’ll notice no difference!

[Official Gmail Blog]

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