Wi-Fi Sense feature running on the new upgraded Windows 10 Operating System (Photo : Reuters)
While Microsoft's offer of a free upgrade to Windows 10 triggers excitement among users, the new operating system comes with a new feature called Wi-Fi Sense that routinely shares the users Wi-Fi passwords with others.
According to Tom's Guide, when a user enables Wi-Fi Sense, all contacts in the Skype, Outlook, or Hotmail, and any of friends on Facebook can have access to the same Wi-Fi network as long as they within proximity. Microsoft incorporated this feature in Windows 10 to save users on time, but security concerns are eminent.
The biggest problem with the Wi-Fi Sense feature is that there is a possibility for strangers or devious friends being granted access to the Wi-Fi networks. Tech giant Microsoft gave an assurance that users have to accept to enable Wi-Fi Sense each moment they go to another network, that those individuals to whom a user gives access to the network cannot share the access to yet other people, and that the feature does not share actual passwords but a coded form of it, Krebs On Security revealed.
Although Windows 10 has safeguards, the aspect around Wi-Fi Sense is altogether risky for users since there are many of them who will be tempted to enable everything prompted by their computers. In case they accept sharing Wi-Fi Sense with Facebook friends, then all friends on Facebook will gain access to the network.
Another critical problem is that Wi-Fi sense allows a user to share access to more than one network apart from the personal network. The feature does not differentiate between a home network, office network, and any other network since all networks will be functional as long as the user types in a password.
It is advisable that users never enable Wi-Fi share after installing Windows 10 OS on a laptop or tablet - or any other handset running Windows Phone 8 that has a similar feature - into the house.
