Keeping myself safe when using other people's unsecured wifi network

[speedboxx]

Lets say I wanted to use someone else's unsecured network. Chances are, their networks are unsecured because they are 1)noob 2)generous. However, what if the owner deliberately leaves their network unsecure so that the owner can take personal information from random users using their network? Im sure this is a possibility.

I am just a bit paranoid because I am at work right now and using someone else's network. There is not much to do, and I have my laptop with me. So what precautions should I take? Is there some sort of free service I can use to encrypt all the internet activity coming from and out of my computer?

Thanks.

[S25]

Use an ssh tunnel to forward your traffic encrypted to a network you can trust.

[dazed]

A little more info on this: http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1806