Re: Apple wifi implementation flaw

[Brian Helman <bhelman () SALEMSTATE EDU>]

This exists in all Apple devices, not just iOS.

I disagree, but not because I think it's a data security issue.  I think it's a personal security issue.  Think about 
it.  You go into Starbucks and your iPhone/iPad broadcasts your home SSID.  Someone sitting there grabs that 
information using FireSheep and cross-references against Google or WiGLE.net .  Now they know your home address.  And 
they know you're not there.

-Brian

From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Jeffrey 
Schiller
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2012 10:33 AM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Apple wifi implementation flaw

Let me take a wild guess here. I vaguely recall that when the iPhone first came out it caused meltdowns on several 
different networks. My guess is that this behavior may be a change that Apple made to mitigate the problem (which was 
likely with the network itself). By the time Android came on the scene, these networks had been fixed so the mitigation 
wasn't needed. However the behavior was already in the iOS code base and stayed there.

Personally I don't believe this is a particularly big deal. There are much worse privacy problems around.

                        -Jeff

--
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Jeffrey I. Schiller
Information Services and Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue  Room E17-110A
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http://jis.qyv.name
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