Will Linux protect me from network traffic sniffers?

[GoofyGutt]

A friend of mine got a problem with others on the same local network, that probably uses programs like "MSN sniffer" and "IMBoss MSN sniffer monitor" to monitor conversations, so he has kinda lost all privacy.
I suggested to install Kubuntu as I guess the MSN sniffer is a windows based app., but will it really help switching to Kubuntu and use IM's like Emesene or aMSN? Or will it be just the same as it's still the same MSN protocol?
How can he protect himself from that kind of monitoring?

Thanks

[tinker]

Re: Will Linux protect me from network traffic sniffers?

GoofyGutt,
I sense from the way you worded the question that you are not an expert in this field so I will just try to give a simplistic answer.

No.

If someone is a part of a network and they have the ability to put an ethernet interface in promiscuous mode they can sniff all traffic on the network, that includes LANs and WANs and the big WAN the Internet. There are lots of programs that are available to do so, although, I'm not familiar with the two you mention. It is not a specific operating system thing, once the packets are sent all operating systems use the same protocol for those communications, so it doesn't matter if someone is using a Windows client or a GNU/Linux client. However, just because someone *can* do it doesn't mean that they are authorised to do so. The system administrator may need to sniff communications in order to properly monitor and support the network but normally users are restricted by policy and would be breaking the rules by sniffing. In some cases and jurisdictions it could even be against the law. Your friend should tell the sys admin what is happening.

Note: Any encrypted communication will still be encrypted if sniffed and very few will have the computing power and knowledge to break the encryption. This is a huge topic, please don't reply with a "how do you do that?" There is not a simple answer. If you study for a while and end up with specific questions it might be possible for you get useful answers.

[GoofyGutt]

Re: Will Linux protect me from network traffic sniffers?

I see, I guess I'll check up in the local laws as well

But hey, I installed the sniffer app on one of my computers at home, and it detected all conversations from MSN on Windows computers, but nothing from my Linux laptops, how come? Lousy sniffer?

[alpinist]

Re: Will Linux protect me from network traffic sniffers?

Most likely your connections on the linux box were encrypted and the windows users were using unencrypted chat.

[tinker]

Re: Will Linux protect me from network traffic sniffers?

I see, I guess I'll check up in the local laws as well

But hey, I installed the sniffer app on one of my computers at home, and it detected all conversations from MSN on Windows computers, but nothing from my Linux laptops, how come? Lousy sniffer?

Well, if you happened to be using a network sniffer and you were in the USA and you worked in a government office, you might get a visit from Homeland Security, if someone noticed. That's the sort of 'against the law' I was meaning. Of course, going against company policy anywhere could be grounds for dismissal and that might be bad enough.

But GoofyGutt, you started this thread about some situation of a friend of yours, now you say you used one of those sniffers you mentioned, I guess I am wondering what you are really asking about. You don't give enough detail to know what you are writing about, "the sniffer app", "nothing from my Linux laptops", doesn't give us much to answer a question with. That being said, I won't help you learn to sniff traffic, maybe someone else here would.

[GoofyGutt]

Re: Will Linux protect me from network traffic sniffers?

I know what it migh look like, but I don't want to know how to break any encryption, I just want to know how to use MSN without anybody evesdropping on every conversation, there's always things you talk with certain people about that you don't wanna share with just anybody. So I kinda got the help I was looking for, install an app that will encrypt MSN conversations in WinXp, or switch to Kubuntu as it seemed like both Emesene and aMSN encrypted their conversations.

[tinker]

Re: Will Linux protect me from network traffic sniffers?

Okay GoofyGutt, because your question caught my interest and I had not heard of those two IM sniffers you mentioned I looked into it a little bit more.

Yes, there are IM clients for Windows that can do encryption. There are even clients that can run on either Windows or Linux so you could have the same experience on either system.

I didn't copy the hits down because I was going through things rapidly so I can't cite the URLs. However, if you use the keywords IM encryption in your favourite search engine, there will be several good hits in the first three pages. I think I even saw some free ones. I didn't evaluate any of them but have a look for any that might seem to suit your needs.

But, I still have a word of caution. If you are in the USA, somewhat recent rulings have turned out that companies are required to archive communication in a readable form in case the court wants to see them years later. I don't think the full implications of that are clear, but it *might* indicate that encrypted IM could pose a legal problem somewhere down the road. Disclaimer:I am not a lawyer. My best advice is still to discuss the issue with the sys admin, that's also probably the best person to help with you implementation.