Xfinity WiFi Networks Disclose User's Real Name and Home Address

Xfinity WiFi, a service from Comcast, is disclosing personal user information about the equipment's location, including customer name and home address.

Comcast's Xfinity WiFi is an Internet service that works using a series of WiFi spots installed as equipment inside the subscribers' home. Existing Comcast customers can connect to these WiFi spots across the country for free, and non-Comcast customers can also access the network for small fees.

Because the service works via equipment installed in other people's homes, Comcast was from the beginning very attentive and pro-active in assuring customers that their personal details would not be disclosed in the public WiFi space.

According to research carried out by Steve Ragan from Salted Hash, Comcast's Xfinity WiFi network is currently broadcasting information about the client's name and home address for each of its hotspots.

This seems to be a recent issue, not present before

In the company's privacy policy and FAQ, Comcast said that this type of information would not show up for home users, but only for businesses.

Comcast launched the Xfinity WiFi service in 2013. Since then, hackers have been chopping away at its network for years, searching for various problems. With so many eyes fixed on the Xfinity network, this most recent user privacy disclosure seems to be a technical issue that appeared only in recent weeks/months.

With this information out in the open, a series of attacks are possible. Criminals can target specific Comcast users, or they could use an attack described by Greg Foss (Xfinity WiFi auto-association). This attack allows malicious actors to steal customer WiFi credentials and take over the device.

For Comcast users not willing to deal with the new security issue affecting Xfinity WiFi, and its subsequent security complications, they can always turn off their device's WiFi hotspot feature and have it taken out of Comcast public WiFi network.

Personal details revealed by Comcast Xfinity WiFi hotspots [Edited for privacy]