Last month we talked about how to use SSH (secure shell) and PUTTY to encrypt the network traffic from your client to your server over an insecure, or untrusted, network.  This is a great idea for IT professionals, but we also wanted to give some tips to the average person who may not understand how SSH and encryption work.  This month we wanted to talk about a concept known as the man in the middle.  When the man in the middle is watching, he might have access to your passwords, email, or online banking information.

Before you can understand what the man in the middle is, or why you should watch out for him, you should understand how your browser encrypts its session when you utilize your banks online banking features or when you check your webmail account.  In this article, we’ll go over these concepts and some others, like digital certificates and the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP).  Armed with this background information we’ll go over a sample man in the middle attack, and then I’ll show you some simple ways to protect yourself and how to tell if the man in the middle is watching...

Please click here for the full article.