How do I tell if my ethernet is encrypted?

In this excerpt from
Answercast #54, I look at the purpose of an Ethernet LAN, which is to move
packets of information. It’s not an encrypted service.

Encrypted connection

It’s not your internet connection that’s encrypted.

An Ethernet connection by definition is not. What you’ve just described here
is basically no encryption. You need to take additional steps.

Those steps come in either of two forms.

Use https:

• One is visit sites that use encryption. (In other words, use https for all of
  your websites.)

Not all websites use https. Ask Leo! is one of them. That’s because I
don’t actually display any sensitive information.

But sites like your bank and your email or whatever, those all have the
opportunity (or should have the opportunity) to go via https, which causes the
connection to be encrypted between your machine and the remote site.

VPN service

• The only other option (that will actually encrypt everything) is to sign up
  for a VPN service. Hotspot VPN is one. There are others.

A VPN service by definition will encrypt all of your traffic between your
machine and their server and then from their server as it continues on to
whatever services, sites and servers you are actually trying to use. But that
link between your machine and the server of the VPN service is itself fully
encrypted.

Ethernet LAN is not encrypted

But the fundamental thing you are asking about here is the internet
connection. It’s an Ethernet LAN.

Ethernet LAN does not imply any encryption whatsoever. It’s simply is a
method to get data packets from point A to Point B.

It’s up to you (in the form of the software that you use) to make sure that
whatever data you want to be encrypted is encrypted. Either on an application
by application basis or using something like a VPN.