The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    How secure is the internet connection at a library?

    Discussion in 'Security and Anti-Virus Software' started by JWBlue, Aug 16, 2012.

  1. JWBlue

    JWBlue Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    85
    Messages:
    844
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    31
    What are the chances of my login for Gmail being stolen when logging in using the computer at a library?
     
  2. Baserk

    Baserk Notebook user

    Reputations:
    2,503
    Messages:
    1,794
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    To get a proper answer, you'd need to know how secure the workstations/network/servers are.
    If verification is impossible, it's a matter of trust.
     
  3. piercove

    piercove Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    27
    Messages:
    21
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    There is a 2-step verification you can setup with all Google products ( How it works - Accounts Help), but the basic routine of "logging out" of gmail when your done and dumping cache if you can, would be somewhat sufficient. Just tread lightly on the public computers as you don't know who's been on them. :)
     
  4. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

    Reputations:
    7,588
    Messages:
    10,023
    Likes Received:
    1,077
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Ideally, assume they're not and don't use them if you can avoid.

    The chances are relatively small though if they have security software up to date in place.
     
  5. evil_mike

    evil_mike Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    130
    Messages:
    375
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Why do you ask JWBlue?

    As others have mentioned, it depends on the security of the system. For example, if they use a temporary session that gets "torn down" after you log out of the computer, chances are pretty slim unless there's a hardware keylogger installed in one of the USB ports.

    And yeah...I tend to avoid accessing anything sensitive on public computers, particularly if it requires a username/password.
     
  6. Deks

    Deks Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    1,272
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    2,073
    Trophy Points:
    331
    Why not simply use private/incognito mode on public computers?
    It won't keep track of your activities online, and you can always delete the browsing history after you are done for good measure.