Windows 10 Wi-Fi Sense Raises Security Concerns

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Shouldbeu2,
User Rank: Apprentice
8/14/2015 | 11:01:04 AM

Neighborhood wifi?

Given most of your neighbors are fb friends, how would you stop them from hogging your bandwidth? (hmm. Netflix\amazon prime works better on Bob's network since he is paying for fiber..)

I don't let all my FB or other contacts just walk in my house at any time; why would I just let them just use my network at any time?

Since you are responsible for what occurs on\through your network (hacking, illegal sites, etc) doesn't this increase your liability?

What about internal hosted websites (like for security cameras) - would they have access to those?

I don't think I should have to explicitly 'opt out' either; it should be an opt in.

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50%

batye,
User Rank: Ninja
8/3/2015 | 1:36:12 PM

good info

@Kellly -thank you, good points and wealth of good security info... - thanks

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tzubair,
User Rank: Ninja
7/31/2015 | 6:26:02 PM

Re: Mechanics

"From there, it's sent over an HTTPS connection to your contacts' PC or phone (if they're also on WiFi sense)."

@Kellly: Thank you for explaining the underlying architecture. If that's the level of security that has been built in, then it does seem quite secure. It seems like an efficient way to handle the case where the Wifi key changes and everyone has to update it. As long as they are added to your network, they'd not need to update the key on their ends. Further, if you want to prevent someone from using the Wifi, you can simply remove them from your network

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tzubair,
User Rank: Ninja
7/31/2015 | 6:16:37 PM

Re: Mechanics

"I don't know, but this sounds like dangerously over-social engineering something to me.."

@progman2000: It does't seem dangerous on the surface but it does have the potential to be exploited and be used as social engineering as you mentioned. However, it depends on how secure the system has been made and what is the underlying process like. I do trust Microsoft when it comes to security.

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Kelly22,
User Rank: Strategist
7/31/2015 | 12:29:29 PM

Re: Time saver

It's definitely a timesaver and I think for most people, it's a handy tool. My concern would be for people handling sensitive info. One example: employees working from home, especially those with households of people who could share the WiFi password if they know it. In that case it might be smart to block your personal network.

One tweak I'd like to see is the ability to allow individual machines instead of entire social networks. I don't like the idea of sharing my password with my entire Facebook contact list..

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Kelly22,
User Rank: Strategist
7/31/2015 | 12:25:26 PM

Re: Mechanics

When you choose to share access to a network, the password is sent over an encrypted connection and stored in an encrypted file on a Microsoft server. From there, it's sent over an HTTPS connection to your contacts' PC or phone (if they're also on WiFi sense). Your device doesn't become a hotspot; your contact is using your password to log in to the network - they just don't know what it is.

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GAProgrammer,
User Rank: Ninja
7/31/2015 | 11:27:04 AM

A bit paranoid here....

Sure, you can share your WiFi info to Grandma, but how many of her friends are actually going to come within range of your WiFi signal? Can your info be distributed? Sure. However, the physical limitations are going to make this useless to most people with bad intentions. They have to KNOW where you are to get on your network. So what if my WiFi password is sent to 450 people across 6 states? Only about 5 of them will ever actually be close enough to make use of the info.

I am all for being cautious about things, but let's not go overboard with the paranoia here.

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progman2000,
User Rank: Ninja
7/31/2015 | 8:52:20 AM

Re: Mechanics

I don't know, but this sounds like dangerously over-social engineering something to me...

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100%

Whoopty,
User Rank: Ninja
7/31/2015 | 7:45:59 AM

Time saver

As much as I don't like that this is linked with Facebook and Outlook (I email people and have "friends" that I wouldn't invite to my house) I do like the idea of not having to give out my WiFi password every time someone I'm close to comes round.

It's a nice idea, but needs some tweaks I think as there's too much potential for network infiltration with something like this.

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tzubair,
User Rank: Ninja
7/30/2015 | 11:14:33 PM

Mechanics

So from what I understand from this post, if you're part of my network (Outlook, Facebook etc) and if you come to a place with WiFi where I have access to WiFi, I can share the network with you and you can connect to it without knowing the key. I think that does sound a bit useful to me. However, I wonder how the mechnics work. Does it make the router give access to the new device? Or, does your own device become a hotspot and share the network?

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