New York Sen. Charles Schumer on Monday called on Internet companies like Amazon, Twitter, and Yahoo to encrypt their users' accounts in order to prevent hackers from gaining access to personal information over Wi-Fi networks.
Specifically, Schumer called on Web companies to switch from the HTTP protocol to the more secure HTTPS option. HTTPS keeps data encrypted as it travels between your Web browser and servers and is mostly used for things like banks and credit card company Web sites.
"The number of people who use Wi-Fi to access the Internet in coffee shops, bookstores and beyond is growing by leaps and bounds, but these users are unaware that they are easy prey for hackers and identity thieves," Schumer, a Democrat, said in a statement. "It is scary how easy it is. Free Wi-Fi networks provide hackers, identity thieves and spammers alike with a smorgasbord of opportunities to steal private user information like passwords, usernames, and credit card information."
The "quickest and easiest way" to stop this is to switch from HTTP to HTTPS, he said. He pointed to Firesheep, a Firefox add-on that made headlines in October for allowing people to take over sessions on Facebook, Twitter, Google, and more via open Wi-Fi networks.
The growth of free Wi-Fi hotspots provide opportunities for hackers to exploit security flaws in HTTP extensions, Schumer said.
In letters to several tech companies, Schumer wrote that he is "calling on you to make the switch to a default HTTPS protocol for all browsing on and interface with your site. Many other companies have already made this change, and it would be in the public interest for you to do so as well. Your customers – and my constituents – deserve to have their information kept as safely as possible."
Sites that deal with sensitive personal information have typically used HTTPS during the sign-in process to protect password information and reverted back to HTTP afterwards because full encryption can sometimes slow down your experience on that site.
In January, Facebook introduced the option to encrypt your Facebook session at all times, as well as an easier account authentication process. Hotmail has a similar option. Last year, Google announced that it would encrypt Gmail at all times, not just during sign-on, and make the process an opt-out feature rather than opt-in.