Have you ever logged onto a WIFI network at a coffee shop, airport, or other public place? I’ll admit I haven’t. My laptop isn’t quite up to specs for that kind of activity. However, you can walk in just about any Barnes and Noble or Starbucks and see people working away, not to mention hotel lobbies and other gathering places. I’ve often wondered how secure the data is that’s floating around between the computer and the network. The New York Times had an interesting article on that yesterday: click here. According to the article:

“Gathering reliable statistics about security breaches is notoriously difficult, since companies are reluctant to reveal this information. Still, the most recent computer crime and security survey, conducted annually by the Computer Security Institute with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, found that the average loss from computer security incidents in 2005 was $167,713 per respondent (based on 313 companies and organizations that answered the question).”

So proceed with caution since you never know who may be looking over your shoulder or surfing for data floating through the air. The law doesn’t know how to deal with data grabbed in situations like these.