My school's open Wi-Fi network...

Question

I'm concerned about the security of my school's wi-fi, seeing as it is open unsecured. Is there any possible way I could securely connect (with encryption) to an open network such as this? I've e-mailed the school's network administrator about this, but I haven't received a response yet. When I get a response, I plan on posting it, because I want to be sure that whatever method he prescribes actually provides me with real security.
Also, I read somewhere that WPA is not secure enough and I should be using something called WPA2 instead. Then I read somewhere else that only certain wi-fi cards supported this protocol. Does my built-in AirPort Extreme support WPA2?

Answer 1

So, I'm a little confused as to what exactly your situation is. Are you just wanting to affiliate your computer onto their open network and concerned that their Wi-Fi is open? Then that is what your Mac's built-in firewall is for (Sys Prefs Sharing, Services and Firewall panels). Turn the firewall on and make sure that nothing has a checkmark in its checkbox. The big issue for you is keeping uninvited/unexpected connection requests out of your computer. Firewall turned on and no "services" enabled will do that. If you initiate a connection (like going to a web page), then inbound traffic is not uninvited/unexpected, and the OS takes care of the details of letting responses back in. Or are you wanting to provide your own services, like hosting your own website on your computer? Then there are some additional precautions that you should take. That's why I'm a little confused about precisely what is your situation.
Next point: Do you have your own wireless access point that is driving your WPA2 question? Or are you just affiliating to one (the school's)? The type of over-the-air channel encryption is determined by the wireless access point to which you are attempting to affiliate -- the client (you) doesn't get to choose it. If the access point supports WPA2, and is using it, then it would show up as the type of protocol when you go to configure it in your SysPrefs preferred wireless networks.
The thing about WEP, WPA, WPA2, and so forth, they are there to keep people (like your cheap neighbor at home who won't pay for his own broadband service and would prefer to usurp your bandwidth instead) that are not authorized to use the wireless network out, or to keep them from entering a network from inside/behind a firewall. If they don't care who uses the wireless, and if the access points are outside any firewalls of computers that they want to protect, then no big deal.
If you are concerned about doing on-line banking over this network, well, that should be okay because presumably your bank's website is https://www.megabank.com so that traffic is encrypted. Similarly, in Mail.app, if your mail provider told you to check the "Use SSL" boxes when you were configuring your mail account, you're okay.