Even though most broadband subscribers are aware of the perils of unsecured, residential wi-fi networks, many don’t take the time to properly secure them at installation, and then simply forget. Early this year, a major North American broadband provider and PerfTech customer took steps to help subscribers pre-empt wi-fi security breaches before they occur.
The provider first identifies those accounts that have not personalized the default network name and password supplied with their modem, then delivers an in-browser security alert reminding them to take the precaution, with a link to instructions on how to change the modem password and complete the update.
The ongoing alert campaign has been running for 6 months, February to August. The notice recurs every 4 hours until an action is taken. The response rate has been nearly total and includes these results:
Number of alerts delivered to unique subscribers: 295,104
Percent who acknowledge the alert: 81.7%
Percent who click to reset the password: 16.8%
Total response rate: 98.5%