More Overhyped WiFi Security Fears

Wireless

Following yesterday’s post about overhyped WiFi fears, here’s another article suggesting that some people understand there are security issues with WiFi, but are overestimating what that problem is. The article starts out with the guy admitting (oh no!) that he dared to access an open WiFi network and (gasp!) download his email. As far as I can tell, he was upset because of the temptation to then hack into others machines and steal all their data. So, he goes on to point out that anyone who has an open WiFi network is basically opening up their computer to be wiped clean by scammers. Someone ought to explain that, assuming the computer is set up properly, accessing a WiFi network is unlikely to open up your hard drive to anyone. The only real issue is that any unencrypted web traffic could be captured by someone else on the same access point. This is really only a problem in a few small situations. It’s certainly a security issue, but making everyone think that simply by accessing a WiFi connection, you’re opening up your hard drive is misleading. Even worse, this article is apparently written by someone who provides “IT solutions” to businesses. To have someone like that misunderstand the threat shows just how widely WiFi security concerns have been overhyped.

Filed Under: wi-fi, wifi