Don’t Supress SSID Broadcasting — Have a Glass of Wine Instead

For years, people were told not to drink. Then it became okay — even good — to have a glass of wine every night.

While it may not be as good news as the go-ahead to down some Chianti, the same reversal of traditional thinking may be happening in relation to wireless devices’ broadcasting of secure service set identifier (SSID). It has been an article of faith since the dawn of modern mobility (i.e., a couple of years ago) that broadcasting the SSID — a beacon that advertises the presence of the wireless device — is an invitation to crackers.

Apparently, this isn’t so. ZDNet suggests that disabling SSID broadcasting is useless because there are several other ways that hackers can identify wireless targets. The piece seems to suggest that suppressing SSID identification actually is detrimental, but the explanation is a bit ambiguous.