Secure Firefox and IM with PuTTY
Using public WiFi, while nice because it is free, is a sandbox for hackers to capture data that you might have otherwise thought was secure. Any black hat can use freely available tools that can sniff the data leaving your computer and capture that information so it can be used with malicious intent at a later date. One of the best ways to combat this security risk is by securing Firefox and IM with PuTTY in a sort of makeshift Virtual Private Network (VPN).
There are times when you want to connect to the Internet through unknown and/or insecure networks such as the local Panera or other WiFi hotspot. If you aren’t careful, you might make it all too easy for someone to sniff your connection using Ettercap.
This HOWTO is an easy to read, well written reference guide for setting up Firefox and GAIM so that it uses PuTTY as a sort of proxy server. The only piece missing is the SSH server that you are going to need access to in order for this to work properly. Look around the internet and you should be able to find something that suits your needs.
hmm.
I still prefer openvpn. and it works for all programs. coming openssh version are going to have some vpn functionality, too - but I doubt that will work for windows.