WiFI Vulnerability Scan claims no password when there is one

Blacksheep · 2021-12-30T14:23:20+00:00

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I recently installed Bitdefender on several family pc's and laptops. A vulnerability scan indicated there was a low level threat with my Wi-Fi. Upon looking at the details, I noted that Bitdefender recognized my Wi-Fi was encrypted, but it claimed I have no password. Every time I connect to the Wi-Fi I get an annoying popup saying the network isn't safe.

The thing is, the network DOES have a password, and it's a good, secure one. So why am I getting this message? How do I get Bitdefender to recognize that my network Wi-Fi is properly set up? The popups are driving us nuts and now some family members want me to remove Bitdefender from their machines due to the annoyance. Please help me solve this issue! Thanks.

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Alex_A

Hi, @Blacksheep

could you take a snapshot of the settings as in Figure 3. To determine what your Bitdefender antivirus is not happy with?

All comments

Alex_A

Hi, @Blacksheep

could you take a snapshot of the settings as in Figure 3. To determine what your Bitdefender antivirus is not happy with?

Blacksheep

Thank you, that was very helpful!! The original message I got from Bitdefender was this:

The steps you showed me gave a more detailed analysis. Turns out that Bitdefender could see I had a password, it just didn't like my password. Tweaking the password to satisfy its somewhat arbitrary demands seems to have fixed the issue.

I do think Bitdefender should modify its initial warning to be accurate, however. It's confusing and annoying to be told something you know (and the program clearly knows) is not true. If the more detailed report of the problem was the first notice I had seen, I would have fixed the issue straight away.

Anyway, thank you very much for your assistance!

Alex_A

You are absolutely right, the notification in this case does not make it clear what you need to pay attention to. It's good that everything cleared up.

Good mood to you.

GuerreroG

Wi-Fi hacking frequently takes advantage of small mistakes users make while connecting devices to a network or setting up a router. To avoid the worst of these mistakes, there are a few simple precautions you can take to reduce your attack surface and prevent you from falling victim to some of the most common Wi-Fi attacks.

gtcherer

This doesn't make sense. How would bitdefender know what my wifi password IS in order to determine whether it is strong or weak? I have the same results from a vulnerability scan -no password. That, as has been written is misleading at best and flat out wrong in fact. I believe this is the root of the problem of that vpn pop-up irritations, but who knows!

The solution? Clear error messages. One could note that the better software writers not only put the error message out there, but suggest what to do to fix the error.

Alexandru_BD

Hello @gtcherer,

The vulnerability scan helps you find out if your computer has security vulnerabilities that can lead to remote, unauthorized access, data theft, or malicious attacks. To prevent unauthorized physical access to your computer, strong passwords that cannot be easily guessed must be configured for each Windows user account and for the Wi-Fi networks you connect to as well. These are system vulnerabilities that can be exploited.

Bitdefender shows the warning if the password does not meet a standard safety criteria which assumes that it must contain between 8-12 characters to be considered secure.

If it is recommended to set a stronger password for your home network, make sure that you follow the instructions, so that you can stay connected without worrying about your privacy. When other recommendations are available, follow the provided instructions to make sure your home network stays safe.

Regards

bkt

This suggestion about password length makes no sense with regards to this issue. I recently changed my modem & router. My old wifi password (which Bitdefender indicated my network was "secured" with "password strength: medium" had 11 characters and included a word someone could figure out if they know me) and my new wifi password has 12 characters, which is a random number with no meaning to me whatsoever (it is the password assigned by the manufacturer) and I'm getting "unsafe wifi" and "password strength: no password."

I'll try changing the password to the one that I had on my old network. The image is for my old network worth the shorter and easier to guess password.

Alexandru_BD

Specifically because the current password, as you stated above, is the one assigned by the manufacturer, you are advised to change it. After doing so, I think you will no longer receive that message.
It's like when you install one of those banking apps, you won't be keeping the password set by default and replace it with your own password, right? At least this would be the recommended action..