Wait, what? They are bringing sensitive work to a resort? Is Mar-a-lago supposed to be a secure facility or a golf club? Have the staff been vetted? What about audio and video surveillance sweeps? Gee, I think you are missing the crux of the problem.
" If he is doing presidential work there, do you not think it should be on a secure network, maybe separate to the one everyone else is using"
Bingo. Why is the President of the United States doing sensitive work at a public golf resort? Shouldn't that be done at a secure facility of some sort? What does that have to do with open wifi access points?
"then all of a sudden stuff like open wifi and hackable printers and servers starts to matter a lot more"
Why? Are they discussing stuff that is sensitive? Why are they doing that in a non-secure environment? There could be audio bugs planted. How does wireless printers without passwords make it any worse?
Yes it is "just a country club". The real question you should be asking is should such a place be used for business that needs to remain secret? No governmental official should be conducting sensitive business in their home office or anywhere else.
There is open wifi everywhere. Most businesses that host customers have them. Mar-a-lago is a country club. What does webcams and microphones have to do with Wifi? What planet do you live on?
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Wait, what? They are bringing sensitive work to a resort? Is Mar-a-lago supposed to be a secure facility or a golf club? Have the staff been vetted? What about audio and video surveillance sweeps? Gee, I think you are missing the crux of the problem.
Well then open access points are the least of our problems.
" If he is doing presidential work there, do you not think it should be on a secure network, maybe separate to the one everyone else is using"
Bingo. Why is the President of the United States doing sensitive work at a public golf resort? Shouldn't that be done at a secure facility of some sort? What does that have to do with open wifi access points?
" reported having policy discussions out in the open in public"
Wait, what? And you are worried about open wifi access points? Wow.
Just because a wifi network is using WPA2 doesn't make it secure. There are plenty of attacks that work on WPA2 networks.
"and other guests and staff members might have their electronics turned into unwitting bugs"
It is a public resort. There could be audio surveillance bugs everywhere. Is Mar-a-lago supposed to be a secure facility or a public resort?
Yeah. Good point! But I think people are missing the (obvious) main problem.
Why is there sensitive governmental data at a golf resort?
Then the Federal government needs to purchase it and turn it into a secure facility. What does that have to do with open access points?
"has important and often sensitive meetings there"
The President is having sensitive meetings at a public golf club? And you are worried about WEP? Wow.
Sure, if we were members. It isn't a secure facility. Why would it need a second network? I think you are missing the point.
Why is the President of the United States conducting business at a public resort?
"then all of a sudden stuff like open wifi and hackable printers and servers starts to matter a lot more"
Why? Are they discussing stuff that is sensitive? Why are they doing that in a non-secure environment? There could be audio bugs planted. How does wireless printers without passwords make it any worse?
"where the President of the United States often conducts official business"
Gee. See any problem here? What does that have to do with open access points at a public resort?
Agreed. So what is the real problem here? You get bonus points if you can figure it out (hint: it isn't "open wifi at a public resort")
Camp David isn't a public resort. Mar-a-lago is. Camp David is more secure. Next question?
"I assume does at least a little bit of work"
Bingo. You hit the problem. What does that have to do with open access points?
Just because a wifi network has a password/key/login page doesn't make it suddenly secure. It is amazing how little people know about security.
Yes it is "just a country club". The real question you should be asking is should such a place be used for business that needs to remain secret? No governmental official should be conducting sensitive business in their home office or anywhere else.
Surely the answer to that is not to allow computers in secure environments. Mar-a-lago is a country club.
Mar-a-lago is a resort.
How is it different? I earn $55k doing IT support in Silicon Valley and I don't see the difference.
Why would it need to be secure? Against what? Being used?
There is open wifi everywhere. Most businesses that host customers have them. Mar-a-lago is a country club. What does webcams and microphones have to do with Wifi? What planet do you live on?
Except for the ones in Seattle. Because Directors Rules. They only have dial-up.
Open wifi isn't necessarily a security risk. Every Starbucks has one.