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Security

What about Security with broadband? I'm thinking about ditching my wired connection all together in favor of broadband only. However I do a lot of banking and credit card transactions and was wondering about security in the connection. Should I be concerned?

Thanks in advance...jb

Comments

Blackout

The vzaccess manager works as a firewall for the mbb card. When the computer has problems connecting to the internet with the card, its usually caused by a conflict of interest between the different firewalls on the computer.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that the Verizon Wireless data network has never been hacked.

I hope this helps!

Super_Dave

The cool think about Verizon's network is that the network encrypts all data automatically- that is the nature of their network (called "CDMA" co-division multiple access). Noone will be able to view the information you receive or transmit over the Verizon Wireless spectrum. Keep in mind though, that your security is limited to your computer- you will need a software firewall, antivirus, and anti-phishing software to ensure all your information is safe- the same as any other internet connection wireless or not.

LukeTech

When using EVDO, the downlink (cell site to handset/data card) is more closely related to Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and the uplink is CDMA. However, the downlink is encoded in such a way that it would be extremely difficult to decode by eavesdropping. The uplink is even more secure.

On top of that, any financial institution will use SSL (websites start with https) for encrypting your connection to their servers. Even if someone did read this data, for example with a protocol analyzer that could read each packet if you were on a wired ethernet network, they would need the matching key to decode the packets. Any of these would be as likely as me winning the lottery; with my luck, you have a better chance of winning!

A firewall is still recommended because a server or someone up to no good could attempt to connect to your PC and do mischief. That is not impossible but more unlikely because your IP address changes each time you dial up, rather on a home cable/DSL your IP address tends to be the same for long periods of time.

If you require absolute security, you can run a VPN over the EVDO connection. Anything inside the VPN "tunnel" is encrypted, regardless of SSL/non SSL websites. Various companies can host a VPN for you at various costs.

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