Fwd: [ PRIVACY Forum ] Windows 10 will share your Wi-Fi key with your friends' friends

Mon Jul 6 18:29:53 UTC 2015

This isn't really an open source issue -- anybody can make foolish product
design decisions regardless of licensing model. This is more about a vendor
producing a feature that deliberately and shortsightedly creates a slew of
problems impacting almost all existing networks anywhere. It's highly
convenient feature for a specific, limited use case (home users hosting a
party with a bunch of people that they don't want to have to worry about
how to give them a network password). However, gat ignores all of the other
security and user impact issues. Can you imagine how the user experience
will change when you change your SSID to include the _optout tag and then
try to verbally tell someone what the new SSID is? Bonus points for dealing
with users in a context where you've had the same SSID for years.
On Jul 6, 2015 11:17 AM, "Richard Golodner" <rgolodner at infratection.com>
wrote:

> There is a reason why my family loves open source. My kid is learning
> Linux and she doesn't even know it. Mommy has an Android...
>
> On 07/06/2015 12:53 PM, Jay Ashworth wrote:
>
>> >From Lauren, a new "feature" in Windows 10 I think this community
>> probably
>> wants to know about, to the extent you don't already.
>>
>> I *knew* I didn't like W10.  :-)
>>
>> Cheers,
>> -- jra
>>
>> ----- Forwarded Message -----
>>
>>> From: "PRIVACY Forum mailing list" <privacy at vortex.com>
>>> To: privacy-list at vortex.com
>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 1, 2015 8:03:06 PM
>>> Subject: [ PRIVACY Forum ] Windows 10 will share your Wi-Fi key with
>>> your friends' friends
>>> Windows 10 will share your Wi-Fi key with your friends' friends
>>>
>>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/30/windows_10_wi_fi_sense/
>>>
>>> In an attempt to address the security hole it has created, Microsoft
>>> offers a kludge of a workaround: you must add _optout to the SSID (the
>>> name of your network) to prevent it from working with Wi-Fi Sense. (So
>>> if you want to opt out of Google Maps and Wi-Fi Sense at the same
>>> time,
>>> you must change your SSID of, say, myhouse to myhouse_optout_nomap.
>>> Technology is great.) Microsoft enables Windows 10's Wi-Fi Sense by
>>> default, and access to password-protected networks are shared with
>>> contacts unless the user remembers to uncheck a box when they first
>>> connect. Choosing to switch it off may make it a lot less useful, but
>>> would make for a more secure IT environment.
>>>
>>> - - -
>>>
>>> --Lauren--
>>> Lauren Weinstein (lauren at vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
>>> Founder:
>>> - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
>>> - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
>>> Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility:
>>> http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
>>> Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
>>> Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
>>> Google+: http://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein
>>> Twitter: http://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
>>> Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> privacy mailing list
>>> http://lists.vortex.com/mailman/listinfo/privacy
>>>
>>
>