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Encoding your WiFi access point password into a QR code

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Re: Encoding your WiFi access point password into a QR code

#91

Post by BiteCode_dev »

ryder9 wrote: post #85
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No more than regular url written in a paper. People write them blindly anyway, they don't know what it means nor how to read it. But QR code are not just for URL, they can contain up to 7k, which is a lot for text and numbers. And you can have several of them, use compression, etc.

Because urls have letters & words in english that I can read and determine if the website is authentic or not as opposed to QR code that no human can read? Have you never come across phishing scams that looked eerily authentic only to be clued in by the fake url? I can read the URL before going to the website, and unless QR codes have a step where you have to manually confirm going to the url provided by the code (mo…

Qr code readers show you the url, you have push a button to navigate to it. So it's no different than having it copied manually.

Not that it matters much for most users, as I said earlier, they blindly type url. They have no idea what it is.

You could put a warning saying "are you sure, this is going to kill your mother and steal all your money" and people would click on it if it's easy to do.

Re: Encoding your WiFi access point password into a QR code

#92

Post by ThePowerOfFuet »

gpvos wrote: post #64
matt-attack wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you not concerned that QR code’s are just completely opaque URLs asking to be clicked? Do you confidently click on URLs in spam emails? Of course not since we all know URLs can point to malicious payloads. So why should we love QR code’s that could just as easily do the same. If I’m a spammer trying to get people to click on my bogus links in my email messages, why wouldn’t I also print those same URLs as QR code…

The QR scanning app that I use displays the URL so I can check if it looks okay, but most of them are abbreviated using services like bit.ly, so that doesn't help much. You'd have to have a UI that lets the user step through several redirections, but that would probably confuse people.

Qrafter on iOS has exactly that UI, which is why I use it.

Re: Encoding your WiFi access point password into a QR code

#93

Post by BiteCode_dev »

mucholove wrote: post #83
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #13

Most ISP put this kind of QR code on the provided "modem" in France with the default Wifi password of the device. I love QR code. I think it should be everywhere. All legal documents and forms should have one. All supermarket bills should have one. It's a fantastic way to transition from paper to bits. Unfortunately most users have no idea what it is. They don't know what a URL is, so a QR code is out of the question…

Have you been to China? QR—everywhere.

Yes, that's why I know it's possible.

Re: Encoding your WiFi access point password into a QR code

#94

Post by hwc »

asaph wrote: post #89

If you choose to put a WiFi password up on a sign as a QR code, do not post it in view of a window. Passers-by should not be able to connect to your network from outside your home or office. This advice also applies to plain text passwords posted on signs.

I taped the qrcode to the top of my access point so I don't forget where it is.

Re: Encoding your WiFi access point password into a QR code

#95

Post by prepend »

m-p-3 wrote: post #82
AmericanChopper wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can’t be used to encode very much data though. They wouldn’t be suitable for storing documents, but could be used to store the location of a document. I was trying to be clever once and thought I could encode X.509 certificates in QR codes. Even that much data was pushing the hard limits of what they can store, and became very hard to scan (I quickly realised this wasn’t actually very clever).

I wish we could encode PGP public keys with them, but it's still too much data. That would be a neat way of exchanging a key.

How big is your pgp public key? Mine is under 4K in ascii and can definitely fit in a QR code.

If you use a crypto atm it will print out your wallet’s private and sometimes public keys as QR codes.

Re: Encoding your WiFi access point password into a QR code

#96

Post by petepete »

knorker wrote: post #81

I have a picture frame in my house with a QR code for the wifi, and also an NFC badge so you can just lift your phone to it to connect. NFC stickers cost approximately nothing, and you can program them using an app on your phone.

The ability to write your connection settings to a NFC sticker is also built right into Android.

Re: Encoding your WiFi access point password into a QR code

#97

Post by prepend »

mikeyouse wrote: post #30
cpach wrote: post #18

Very neat! However, IMHO 63 characters is a bit much for the password. ”If you use lower-case, upper-case, and digits, and if you generate it truly randomly, then a 16-character password has 95 bits of entropy. That is more than sufficient.” Source: https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/15653/recommend...

A friend has a ~32 character camel case phrase as his WiFi password.. just a nightmare for people to type on their phones. iOS’s “share pass with contact” helps but every once in awhile someone has to spend 10 minutes trying to get a password to work. So silly.

Your friend needs a guest wifi with “fun friends” as the password that they turn on and off as necessary.

It’s funny that friend goes to the effort of a super long password, but then lets people connect to it.

Re: Encoding your WiFi access point password into a QR code

#98

Post by BiteCode_dev »

m-p-3 wrote: post #82
AmericanChopper wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can’t be used to encode very much data though. They wouldn’t be suitable for storing documents, but could be used to store the location of a document. I was trying to be clever once and thought I could encode X.509 certificates in QR codes. Even that much data was pushing the hard limits of what they can store, and became very hard to scan (I quickly realised this wasn’t actually very clever).

I wish we could encode PGP public keys with them, but it's still too much data. That would be a neat way of exchanging a key.

Gpg key fingerprints are very small though and can be used for that.

Re: Encoding your WiFi access point password into a QR code

#99

Post by prepend »

toyg wrote: post #63
speleding wrote: post #46

Instead of installing a package to generate a QR code, you can simply use this free Google service: https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chs=120x120&cht=qr&chl=WI... ;; Remember to URL encode the SSID en PASSWORD if you have any characters that can't go into a URL. (Also, you have to trust Google to not store that URL anywhere)

Yes, let’s give all passwords for wifi networks to the company that notoriously maps all wifi networks they can find. What could possibly go wrong...?

This happens every time I use android to connect to a WiFi network. Google stores my info in clear text to them.
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