Recently, we reported on AT&T's push to make it easier for iPhone & iPod touch users to connect to their Wi-Fi Hot Spots. One of our readers, Jamie Phelps, pointed out on his blog that AT&T's Wi-Fi service is not actually a "secure connection," as is advertised in various places on their website; we had overlooked this, and mistakenly reinforced the company's shaky claim in our post.

This brings to light an important point about wireless networks and security, however. It's really easy (and sadly all too common) to hop on to an available wireless signal in your office, at the hotel, or your favorite coffee spot and not even think twice about logging in to your e-mail or checking your bank balance.

What many users don't realize is even though the server you are connecting to (i.e. your bank's website) may employ several layers of security, the connection between your computer and the wireless access point is very likely to be unsecured. Anyone who is within range of your computer can trivially monitor the traffic being sent between your computer and the access point, allowing them to see what websites you may be visiting or capture details about other services that you may be connected to. This isn't because of some gaping vulnerability or software bug, it's just an inherent part of how wireless networks work.

So, what can you do to protect yourself? Read on for a list of simple steps you can take to ensure that your wireless connection is safe and secure.

Among the many wonderful (and sometimes frustrating) new features of iPhone OS 3.0 was one that was announced today by AT&T. The company now supports auto-authentication for 3.0 users who are connecting to AT&T WiFi Hot Spots. While the Hot Spots are nothing new, the simple logon is a iPhone OS 3.0 feature that went live today.

Any customer using a qualified iPhone data plan has unlimited access to more than 20,000 AT&T WiFi Hot Spots. Previously, using the Hot Spots required a two-step authentication process that required receiving an SMS message. Now you connect your iPhone to the network at a Hot Spot one time, and the auto-connect capability is set up for you. From then on, all you need to do is walk into the Hot Spot, and you'll be automatically logged in with a secure connection. (One-click logon capability for the AT&T wireless sites was offered for iPhone 2.x devices via Devicescape's Easy Wi-Fi app, but it has disappeared from the App Store.)

Update: As pointed out here and acknowledged here, AT&T is playing fast and loose with the word 'secure' in its marketing materials. The hotspot connection is not protected with WEP or WPA encryption, and there is nothing in the default setup to prevent other users in the same location from sniffing your packets as they fly by.

This is a big step in the direction that AT&T seemed to be taking when they started boldly moving into the WiFi Hot Spot market, in terms of making sure that AT&T customers can easily and seamlessly move between AT&T's wireless network and the WiFi Hot Spots. Most iPhone users can now walk into any McDonald's, Starbucks, or Barnes & Noble location and immediately take advantage of WiFi speeds and bandwidth.

For more information about the location of the Hot Spots and how to connect, visit the AT&T WiFi site here.

Boingo Wireless, the global market leader in Wi-Fi hotspots, has just released a new version of its GoBoingo! client for Intel-based Macs running Tiger or Leopard (Powerbook users can use the client in Tiger). The GoBoingo! client makes it super easy to connect to any of the more than 100,000 Boingo partnered hotspots throughout the world. Boingo powers hotspots in bookstores, airports, hotels, retail stores and restaurants. They have access plans available in daily or monthly increments that provide unlimited access to all Boingo hotspots (in either North America or internationally).

The GoBoingo! client is cool because not only can it automatically connect you to a Boingo hotspot (meaning you don't have to go to the login page and enter in some really long username and password), but it also gives you access to tons of Boingo-partnered hotspots that would be otherwise be inaccessible from Boingo.com.

For instance, if you are at the airport and you buy a Boingo Connect Day pass (which is $7.95 for US & Canadian access, $9.99 for international access) and then later that day, go to a McDonald's with Wi-Fi, you don't have to pay a separate fee at McDonald's, because they have a roaming agreement with Boingo. Boingo has a romaing agreement with AT&T as well, meaning that you can soon use your Boingo account at Starbucks.

The client is designed to be lightweight (the download is less than 1 MB) and it runs in the background, only popping up when it detects a Boingo network. After you have entered your account information once, you just have to click "connect" to login. I tested the client out at a few places in my neighborhood today, one that I knew was a Boingo-powered hotspot (because it always brings me to the Boingo login screen) and two that were Boingo roaming-partners and I was able to connect to all three easily and without any excess typing (or even better, money).

The GoBoingo! client is available now.

Today's featured widget over at Apple is one of the most useful I've seen so far: a JiWire widget. It's the best of both worlds when it comes to wireless widgets: part stumbler, part search engine tool for JiWire's database of wireless hotspots. The stumbler has a completely automated interface to Airport: clicking the link in the widget connects you to any network you can see. In fact, the stumbler seems to be just a wrapper for AirPort's built-in functionality, but it does provide some extras that you can't see in the Airport menubar dropdown, like which networks are open and which have encryption enabled. The database lookup is nifty, too. Results are returned in the widget; clicking on them opens the JiWire detail page for that hotspot in Safari. Who knew the McDonald's around the corner has an AT&T hotspot?