How can i use an unsecure network securely?

I'm moving in a house with other people and they do no secure their wireless network. (Yes, I'm aware they should.........) It's open to the world.

I want to use that network and do things like use my credit card and enter my social security number. Is there a program I can run on my Mac so I can use this unsecure network safely?

Why not just secure the network? It's easy to setup and once it's done, your housemates will only have to enter the password once.

oxband said:

I'm moving in a house with other people and they do no secure their wireless network. (Yes, I'm aware they should.........) It's open to the world.

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Not only foolish not to secure the network, but also dangerous.

oxband said:

I want to use that network and do things like use my credit card and enter my social security number. Is there a program I can run on my Mac so I can use this unsecure network safely?

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You can of course locally (on the computer itself) secure your Mac with various encryption schemes and so forth - some of which may cause you problems. However, broadcasting over a wireless network is another matter. My advice is don't do it. There is no way you can easily secure or encrypt your data and then transmit it over a network that is not secure.

Either convince the owner of the network to secure it or pay for your own connection and router thereby providing the security you need. The other alternative is not using the network for transmitting any personal or sensitive information.

The only truly secure method for open wifi is to use a VPN tunnel. But van makes a good point, why not just turn on the password?

The only truly secure method for open wifi is to use a VPN tunnel.

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What about a SSH Tunnel? Would it also be secure?

This
How to Hijack Facebook Using Firesheep | PCWorld
That is just a simple attack - there are plenty of packet sniffers to get other data.

If you are browsing SSL - then in theory the connection is secure between you and the website. This does not stop a man in the middle attack - where someone can masquerade with the same Wifi name and point you to a bogus site through DNS magic. (There will be clues but it is better to secure the wifi)

Yes as mentioned you can use a ssh tunnel or vpn tunnel and send all your traffic through that - but
usually you are sshing or vpning to a home or work network that is secure - in your case your home network is what is open.

On open networks like starbucks I run a ssh tunnel/web proxy to my home so that all traffic is encrypted up to the house connection (the open wifi is sending encrypted traffic for everythng, not just SSL, when I tunnel ssh)
Here is a pretty good tutorial on setting up a proxy
Geek to Live: Encrypt your web browsing session (with an SSH SOCKS proxy)