Weird Security Recommendation by iOS?!?

[Luba]

I went into Settings > WiFi and tapped on Security Recommendation: "Using a hidden network can expose personally identifiable information."

How can a hidden network expose personally identifiable information that a unhidden network would protect??

 

[timeconsumer]

I went into Settings > WiFi and tapped on Security Recommendation: "Using a hidden network can expose personally identifiable information."

How can a hidden network expose personally identifiable information that a unhidden network would protect??

Because if your device is trying to connect to a hidden network your device will be broadcasting information out everywhere you go trying to connect to that network. Since it's hidden your device has to broadcast out to it rather than receive the broadcast from the network itself when in range.

 

[Givmeabrek]

Interesting. I had to look it up:

http://apple.stackexchange.com/ques...ork-can-expose-personally-identifiable-inform

You can't trust anyone...

 

[Luba]

Because if your device is trying to connect to a hidden network your device will be broadcasting information out everywhere you go trying to connect to that network. Since it's hidden your device has to broadcast out to it rather than receive the broadcast from the network itself when in range.

If I simply unhide that hidden network, then I'm good? Should I change the name of the hidden network which will be unhidden? Do I need to restart my devices? Thanks in advance!

 

[timeconsumer]

If I simply unhide that hidden network, then I'm good? Should I change the name of the hidden network which will be unhidden? Do I need to restart my devices? Thanks in advance!

You should be able to just unhide the network. After you do that, you'll probably want to forget the network on your devices then re-connect.

However, I would recommend reading this article if you haven't: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202068

This article shows Apple's recommendations and overall good practices with wifi networks. As far as naming goes, they recommend the following:

SSID or Wi-Fi network name

The SSID (service set identifier), or network name, identifies your Wi-Fi network to users and other Wi-Fi devices. It is case sensitive.

Set to: Any unique name

Choose a name that's unique to your network and isn't shared by other nearby networks or networks you're likely to encounter. If your router came with a default SSID, it's especially important that you change it to a different, unique name. Some common default SSID names to avoid are linksys, netgear, dlink, wireless, 2wire, and default.

If your SSID isn't unique, Wi-Fi devices will have trouble identifying your network. This could cause them to fail to automatically connect to your network, or to connect to other networks that share the same SSID. It might also prevent Wi-Fi devices from using all routers in your network, or prevent them from using all available bands of a router."