Hackers expose weakness in visiting trusted sites

Why does this remind me of getting info on stock trade orders between point A and before the transaction took place at point B and all in a split second?

One word: Encrypt

Another word: Everything

I believe SSL supports encryption (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong). Is the "man in the middle" computer negotiating the encryption or is there no or little encryption due to the fact it is believed to be a trusted website?

One thing that has always worried me is the MAC address on every NIC. It has a major role in resolving a computer's location. I have always wondered what one could do with a cloned NIC.