Public Network = Anonymity?

[zyewni]

Simple noobish question: If I am on a public network, or a network I don't normally use (let's say I got on someone else's unsecured network from my home), and I avoided signing into any personal accounts on any sites, is there any way that I could be tracked or identified from that activity?

[ghost107]

Simple noobish question: If I am on a public network, or a network I don't normally use (let's say I got on someone else's unsecured network from my home), and I avoided signing into any personal accounts on any sites, is there any way that I could be tracked or identified from that activity?

Nothing is 100% anonymous on the net, but any thing you use to make yourself anonymous will just make it harder to find you(but not imposible). Usually anonymity depends on how skeptical someone is.

Now on your question:
A) Never try it from your home computer
B) If you want to improve your anonymity make it in layers(networks of public, private proxies, wi-fi, prepaid cards, applicatins like tor, ssl, MAC changers, Fake OS using TrueCript, Fake Identity, etc).
C) Even if you avoided using any personal stuff of someone else if you entered on someones network, the admin will think of the worse thing.
D) Most Networks make logs of what happens there.

If the admin or its SIEM(Security Information and Event Management) detects you for intruding.Two things that admin will have in mind, first will be to improve its network security, and second will be to worry for his job.

[limdis]

Yes. Several different ways actually. Ghost107 mentioned some good things, but additionally you always want to spoof your mac address before you connect. If you TOR everywhere afterwards cool, but there is still the logs of you connecting at the very beginning. Also, problems with public networks, especially unsecured home networks, is that they might be honeypots. They might even allow internet access but hard telling what is actually being monitored. Another hazard is someone using firesheep (or similar) is that you might be logged in to your accounts with some long term cookies. You won't even need to visit the site yourself and you will lose that information. My advice is always clear then before using someone elses network.