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The company says your contacts will only be able to share your network access, and that Wi-Fi Sense will block those users from accessing any other shared resources on your network, including computers, file shares or other devices. But these words of assurance probably ring hollow for anyone who’s been paying attention to security trends over the past few years: Given the myriad ways in which social networks and associated applications share and intertwine personal connections and contacts, it’s doubtful that most people are aware of who exactly all of their social network followers really are from one day to the next.El Reg says it well here:Quote That sounds wise – but we’re not convinced how it will be practically enforced: if a computer is connected to a protected Wi-Fi network, it must know the key. And if the computer knows the key, a determined user or hacker will be able to find it within the system and use it to log into the network with full access. In theory, someone who wanted access to your company network could befriend an employee or two, and drive into the office car park to be in range, and then gain access to the wireless network. Some basic protections, specifically ones that safeguard against people sharing their passwords, should prevent this.I should point out that Wi-Fi networks which use the centralized 802.1x Wi-Fi authentication — and these are generally tech-savvy large organizations — won’t have their Wi-Fi credentials shared by this new feature.Microsoft’s solution for those concerned requires users to change the name (a.k.a. “SSID“) of their Wi-Fi network to include the text “_optout” somewhere in the network name (for example, “oldnetworknamehere_optout”).It’s interesting to contrast Microsoft’s approach here with that of Apple, who offer an opt-in service called iCloud Keychain; this service allows users who decide to use the service to sync WiFi access information, email passwords, and other stored credentials amongst their own personal constellation of Apple computers and iDevices via Apple’s iCloud service, but which does not share this information with other users. Apple’s iCloud Keychain service encrypts the credentials prior to sharing them, as does Microsoft’s Wi-Fi Sense service; the difference is that it’s opt-in and that it only shares the credentials with your own devices.Wi-Fi Sense has of course been a part of the latest Windows Phone for some time, yet it’s been less of a concern previously because Windows Phone has nowhere near the market share of mobile devices powered by Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS. But embedding this feature in an upgrade version of Windows makes it a serious concern for much of the planet.Why? For starters, despite years of advice to the contrary, many people tend to re-use the same password for everything. Also, lots of people write down their passwords. And, as The Reg notes, if you personally share your Wi-Fi password with a friend — by telling it to them or perhaps accidentally leaving it on a sticky note on your fridge — and your friend enters the password into his phone, the friends of your friend now have access to the network.Source: How-To Geek
That sounds wise – but we’re not convinced how it will be practically enforced: if a computer is connected to a protected Wi-Fi network, it must know the key. And if the computer knows the key, a determined user or hacker will be able to find it within the system and use it to log into the network with full access. In theory, someone who wanted access to your company network could befriend an employee or two, and drive into the office car park to be in range, and then gain access to the wireless network. Some basic protections, specifically ones that safeguard against people sharing their passwords, should prevent this.
