WiFi security continues to hog the limelight with the series of related revelations and incidents happening periodically. And the latest in this series are the results of a online survey conducted by the UK's Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) published recently, which revealed that 40% of people who have WiFi at home remain uneducated about WiFi security, as in some cases, people are knowingly/unknowingly using unsecured WiFi connections, and in other cases, they are not concerned about using default/weak network passwords configured on their home WiFi network.
This elusiveness on the part of WiFi users makes them susceptible to simple WiFi hacks such as eavesdropping and Man-In-The-Middle attacks. Such hacks/attacks on a home WiFi network can be easily launched if the signal from home WiFi is available to a neighbor or someone doing wardriving, both having a malicious intent.
The results of the research, indicating continuing use of unsecured WiFi connections, also provides insight into the situation where Google’s Street View Cars mistakenly collected private data from home WiFi networks during their wardriving operations, conducted last year, for mapping the streets.
In wake of such results, the ICO has promptly published new guidance that will help people to ensure robust security for home WiFi networks so that mitigate against cyber criminals using unsecured WiFi connections to fulfill their wicked intentions. Also, the ICO is calling on Internet Service Providers (ISPs), retailers and manufacturers to make sure that guidance supplied with the WiFi gear clearly advises the users on the security front.
Considering the explosive growth in the WiFi users base, the steps taken by the UK ICO will definitely motivate users to take WiFi security seriously while they set up a home WiFi or a mobile personal WiFi network (using MiFi gear) to enjoy reliable, robust and high-end mobility.