Wireshark and Coffee

If you find yourself with a laptop, out for coffee at a coffee shop, and bored, then download WireShark. This tool will allow you to see the traffic that’s happening on the WiFi network that you’re connected to.

Several years ago, I did this at a prominent spot in Seattle and it was amazing to see what flowed through the invisible airwaves. It reminded me of what happens when you take water from a swamp and put it under a microscope. There’s a whole world happening.

What it also illustrated for me is the importance of practicing some hygiene when it comes to web security. We assume that our web surfing and chatting and other online activities are generally safe but what we’re really experiencing is that we haven’t encountered bad actors yet.

Over the coming years, patches and new protocols will fill the security gaps and perhaps open new ones but in the meantime, it’s probably better that we adjust our attitude and follow some safety when surfing. There are sometimes sharks.