Here’s What Happens When You’re Hacked on Wi-Fi

SSL Stripping 101

It’s one thing to know how to stay safe on public Wi-Fi, but it’s another to really understand how Wi-Fi hacking works. We’re going to dive into the mind of the average Wi-Fi hacker to explain what goes on when your data is breached on those risky public networks.


An SSL Stripping Scenario

Imagine this: you’re sitting at a café working on your laptop, and you connect to their Wi-Fi network. You access a website using HTTPS, short for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure. This is the protocol commonly used to send data between your browser and a website, but with a layer of encryption — hence the “S” for secure. If you look at your URL in your browser, you’ll see it there.

Now cut to a person in the back of the café: this is a man-in-the-middle, otherwise known as our hacker in the scenario. With the right tools, such as a wireless adapter and penetration testing tools, this hacker is able to intercept your traffic quite easily, and all right under your nose. Here’s how it goes down: when you use HTTPS to send your data to a website, the website sends it back to you using SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer. This is the standard security protocol for creating a secure connection between a web server and a browser.

Now, the hacker has intercepted your traffic, but here’s the key factor: he strips the SSL from your connection before it gets back to you. This means he’s removed any encryption that once kept your data between your browser and a website. Now that your SSL has been stripped, the hacker acts as a middleman — by entering your private data such as login credentials for a website, that information will be sent straight to the hacker.

So where did SSL stripping come from?

Believe it or not, the practice of SSL stripping was created almost a decade ago. Marlie Marlinspike, the creator of the encrypted messaging app Signal, introduced the attack at the 2009 Black Hat Conference held in Washington, D.C.

Since then, many websites, including Facebook and Gmail, have disabled SSL stripping by only using HSTPS. This is short for HTTP Strict Transport Security, and was designed specifically to stop SSL stripping. However, there are still a number of popular websites, such as Hotmail, Amazon, eBay, and Citibank, that still use HTTPS, thus making them targets for SSL stripping.


So how can you stay safe?

Using a VPN, or Virtual Private Network, works exactly how you’d think it would based on its name. When you browse the web while connected to a VPN, a secret connection between you and a website is created, blocking any middlemen or hackers from intercepting your data. With StrongVPN, we boast a wide range of secure, remote servers located around the globe. Simply choose the server you want to connect to, and you’ll enjoy connecting to any website with confidence in knowing that your data won’t be spied on or stolen. Take a look at our plans here to get started today!


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Keep all your devices’ software updated.



Vary your passwords for your devices.



Keep an updated inventory of all your “smart” devices.



Protect your Wi-Fi connection.


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