3

In this link, it is explained why a client sends probes to a hidden network: link
And here it states that clients will send probes for any network to save battery: link

So does it make a difference from a privacy perspective if clients are broadcasting the SSID anyway?

Because hiding it would help against wardrivers and google pinning the SSID to a location.

Eelke
  • 506
  • 1
  • 5
  • 18
  • 1
    Hidden SSID is more of an UX feature than a security one. It's good to be able to hide dozens of internal/management SSIDs in order to present a clean UI to your customers with only the networks that are relevant to them. – André Borie Mar 23 '17 at 10:00

1 Answers1

1

First, we agree that hiding the SSID is not a security feature. But it can be handy sometimes because the attacker needs at least one connected client to a hidden network to send de-auth and get the SSID.

Most important, hiding the SSID might affect client's privacy. Because the client is broadcasting a trusted network SSID, so a rogue AP can be set by an attacker, and then he might be able to set mitm. "only if the network is set to open auth"

Check this answer for more,

Eibo
  • 2,485
  • 3
  • 19
  • 32