How Firesheep Can Hijack Web Sessions

Firesheep is a Firefox extension used to hijack web sessions, usually used over WiFi networks. Firesheep doesn't steal usernames and passwords, instead it copies session cookies used on authenticated websites. These are then used to impersonate the hijacked connection. Session hijacking, or sidejacking is a well known problem, ranking 3rd on OWASP's (Open Web Application Security Project) Top 10 Application Security Risk list. Attackers using Firesheep just need access to network traffic -- such

Attackers have one more trick up their sleeves. Cain & Able will generate an SSL certificate on the fly trying to fool browser users into trusting it. Don't. If you see a message like this (browsers display certificate errors in their own way) stop what you are doing and walk away.

Firesheep Exposes Need For Encryption