Can you sniff wireless traffic from a coffee shop or something?
 

Im a little worried about logging in to sites from this public wifi spot in a local cafe..

Can you sniff wireless traffic or is it generally encrypted?

Any type of wireless traffic is technically risky...

of course it can be sniffed

not only that someone can be in the parking lot with a fake AP named Starrbucks, or Starbucks Free Inet

yeah it can be done, but the chances are pretty slim. Just be smart in what you are doing.

Totally.

Be careful about any unknown wireless network you connect to.

I read a study a while back, where airports around the country were monitored and they found rogue ad-hoc networks in almost all of them. People go in, and setup a wi-fi ad hoc network and wait for people to join... then they sniff all outgoing traffic for information. The sky is the limit with that setup.

If you need wireless internet, your best bet is to have an internet capable cell phone and tether your computer to its internet connection, or get a cellular modem.

The better question is, why sniff your traffic when there is a guy with $20,000,000 in his accounts 2 blocks away?