Mfcttrf

We bought a house. We need internet for basic research, email and paying bills, but there is no internet... Even a dedicated hotspot will not give us a stable connection. We are planning to get satellite internet.

Is it safe to pay bills and access accounts through this? Specifically, should we be be concerned that someone can just snag our signal out of the air and steal our information? I know anything is possible, but is it likely? My wife is concerned and I need some answers to assure her...

Keep in mind we are out in the middle of nowhere, there is not any other service providers out here and our cells have spotty reception...

Satellite is not safe. Neither is cell data, wifi, or cable Internet. None of it is safe at the layer that you are talking. And that's not the layer that needs to be safe.

It's the data that goes over satellite (or wifi, cell, or cable modems) that needs to be secured. That's why we have HTTPS, that little green lock on your browser (it's gone now on most browsers and just grey now because HTTPS is pretty much everywhere).

So your choice of internet provider's media is not what's important in your situation. It's whether you use encrypted sites over that media.

The physical support you use to transport the information doesn't make it more or less secure. Communications nowadays are all encrypted using protocols such as TLS. This means that the information cannot be read by anyone else than the receiver. You might want to read a little about Encryption.

Now while these protocols exists, it doesn't mean that everyone use them. While handling sensitive data, you have to verify yourself that they do. If you have doubts, you can probably contact your service providers for more information.

I would like to specifically address the question on why security of the underlying mode of communication is not as important as the encryption of the message.

You are communicating with your bank to request a transfer from one account to another. You might write a letter something like this, using an official form you picked up from the bank.

Dear Bank Manager at Acme Bank, Local Branch, 123 Fake St, My Town, USA Please transfer $1 from Account 00000 to Account 00001, signed me.

On the Internet, HTTPS and TLS, as described by @simon and @schroeder will take this message and transform it into something that only you and the bank can read (Among other technical things, including verifying your identity and message integrity like an old fashioned wax seal).

Perhaps your message becomes something like this (just an example)

s1IZBEfcLeDluY3Ni/2+qio2MHXKwlaka2OnGZFvwqUroGyxp+n9anhABX35cRlnyI1pkdstgvspA5fzNXWvM1Q1lLYnxslQJPhlsR+NtcFnj3r2t7MAB/R0qQZXLDBHGDhL3Y=

This message will now need to be sent to the bank via post (Internet).

Now you might have 3 choices.

1. Walk into the post office and shout the message at the top of your lungs so the postmaster (and everyone else) can hear it


2. Put it in an envelope (Address visible!) and hand it to the postal carrier that is going door to door every morning


3. Send an armored car to deliver directly to the local post office.

All 3 will have different ways of being listened on or intercepted. All are insecure in their own way, since you rely on others to carry the letter. However, since the message itself is secure, you do not care.

Unlike sending physical mail, the message itself has no value, if it is lost or "stolen" you will just send it again, so an armored car is just extra expense and hassle, you only care if someone can read it, or can pretend to be you or the bank.

It is best to protect the message, and not rely on security of the method of transfer.

For HTTPS sites, you should have little to worry about. Most websites especially important sites that handles personally sensitive data like banking and emails are running on HTTPS nowadays.

If you're concerned about people snagging data of the air and are willing to pay a few bucks for the peace of mind, you can use a VPN service. Once configured correctly, VPN directs all traffic to the VPN termination point and encrypts all data between your devices/local network to the termination point. There's no realistic chance of snagging data over the air even when the website don't use HTTPS. The interception point now is the VPN servers, which is usually connected to tier 1 networks via cables or fibers, rather than a wireless network.

It's likely that your satellite service provider might have already have an over-the-air encryption setup on their network. I can't fathom a commercial satellite internet provider that would be so irresponsible as to not use any form of over the air encryption. Like VPN, this would move the practical interception points to the ground based gateways, though that gateway will be one controlled by the satellite internet provider rather than an independent service. Talk to your satellite network provider and find out how they setup their security if you have any concerns.