Experts say the feature is 'an accident waiting to happen'

It caused an outcry when Microsoft first launched Windows 10.

Called Wi-Fi Sense, it was designed to easily let people share wifi passwords with friends.

However, experts found the feature actually automatically shares your wifi passwords with all Outlook, Skype and Facebook contacts who also use Windows 10.

Microsoft today confirmed it has killed off the product due to 'low demand'

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The feature is designed to easily let people share wifi passwords with friends, but security experts describe it as 'an accident waiting to happen'.

HOW TO SWITCH IT OFF To change your settings, go to Network settings then Manage Wi-Fi settings (Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Manage Wi-Fi Settings). There, you can choose which contacts you share Wi-Fi settings with. You can toggle the setting to discover friends' Wi-Fi networks, or opt not to. If you want none of it, you can uncheck every box. Advertisement

'We have removed the Wi-Fi Sense feature that allows you to share Wi-Fi networks with your contacts and to be automatically connected to networks shared by your contacts,' it said.

'The cost of updating the code to keep this feature working combined with low usage and low demand made this not worth further investment.

'Wi-Fi Sense, if enabled, will continue to get you connected to open Wi-Fi hotspots that it knows about through crowdsourcing.

Experts had previously warned new users of the software to 'be vigilant' with the settings, a feature known as wifi sense.

'Wi-Fi Sense automatically connects you to Wi-Fi around you to help you save your cellular data and give you more Internet connectivity options,' Microsoft says.

'It can do a lot things for you to get you connected to the Internet using Wi-Fi, so you don't have to. And you're always in control with it—you choose whether to get on Wi-Fi, stay on, or jump off.'

The Krebs on Security blog said the feature is 'an accident waiting to happen' when it launched.

'This brilliant new feature, which Microsoft has dubbed Wi-Fi Sense, doesn't share your WiFi network password per se — it shares an encrypted version of that password.

'But it does allow anyone in your Skype or Outlook or Hotmail contacts lists to waltz onto your Wi-Fi network - should they ever wander within range of it or visit your home (or hop onto it secretly from hundreds of yards away).'

'For networks you choose to share access to, the password is sent over an encrypted connection and stored in an encrypted file on a Microsoft server, and then sent over a secure connection to your contacts' phone if they use Wi-Fi Sense and they're in range of the Wi-Fi network you shared,' Microsoft says.

Experts say the feature was an understandable one to try and include - but a disaster in practise.

To change your settings, go to Network settings then Manage Wi-Fi settings (Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Manage Wi-Fi Settings). There, you can choose which contacts you share Wi-Fi settings with. You can toggle the setting to discover friends' Wi-Fi networks, or opt not to. If you want none of it, you can uncheck every box.

'I can entirely understand why someone thought this feature, known as WiFI Sense, was a good idea,' wrote PC Gaming Blog Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

'How many times you done that awkward dance where you go to a friend's house and want to use their wifi, so he's upstairs with the router, trying to bend the cable further than it will go so he can see the sticker on the back, and shouting 'X94 no sorry X49″ down to you, then it takes twelve goes and you still don't get anywhere?

'WiFI Sense is intended to take the pain out of this: you go to your mate's house and your Windows 10 laptop/tablet immediately hops online because the password's been shared via MS' servers.'

'In theory, lovely.

'In practice – Microsoft have, somewhere, an enormous database full of people's passwords.

The new Windows 10 start menu: Following an outcry among users, Microsoft is bringing back the Start Menu, which was removed from Windows 8.

WHAT'S NEW IN WINDOWS 10 Microsoft's new operating system will run on the 'broadest types of devices ever'. It will come with Cortana and the personal assistant app will run on the desktop. It merges various app stores into one platform, called the One Store. Microsoft is bringing back the Start Menu, which was removed from Windows 8. And users can create multiple desktops to keep things organised. Advertisement

'Microsoft don't exactly go out of their way to tell you that they're doing this, so if you agree to Express Settings when installing or updating to Windows 10, WiFI sense is silently turned on for you.

'Realistically, the risks are small and yet to be proven, but this shouldn't be something we all unknowingly agree to, or something that only tech-savvy PC users are aware of or understand.

Windows 10, the biggest update Microsoft has made to its computer software, was finally launched today after a massive beta test programme.

The new software will be the first to work across all Windows-powered devices, from smartphones to tablets and desktop computers, as well as Microsoft's Xbox One games console.

Microsoft is also introducing a new web browser - Edge - to replace Internet Explorer, while the firm's voice assistant Cortana will also move to desktop computers for the first time.

Windows 10 will include a new Xbox app to allow users to easily share with friends, and is extremely similar to the firm's Xbox One console system. Once a device is upgraded to Windows 10, Microsoft said it will continue to keep it up-to-date for the supported lifetime of the device at no cost

The much-loved Start menu, which was removed in Windows 8 to much public outcry, is also making a return in the new software, as the US-firm looks to modernise and appeal to a new range of customers.

Millions of PC users will also be able to upgrade for free as Microsoft is making the update available at no extra cost to those who are already using Windows 7 or 8, though this offer will expire next year.

The firm's chief Satya Nadella has said Microsoft wants to move from 'people needing Windows, to choosing Windows, to loving Windows'.

Windows users who have registered their interest will be notified once Windows 10 becomes available to them, with the roll out beginning in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and set to be staggered over the coming days.

Windows 10 is coming to PCs and tablets first, but it's also designed to run phones, game consoles and even holographic headsets.

The software was unveiled earlier this year. It will run on everything from mobile phones to the firm's Xbox One games console. The firm also showed off an augmented reality headset called HoloLens (pictured) running the software. Microsoft boss Satya Nadella described HoloLens as 'magical' but wouldn't say how much it will cost

It has new features, a streamlined Web browser called Edge and a desktop version of Cortana, the online assistant that is Microsoft's answer to Google Now and Apple's Siri.

Still, the company insists Windows 10 will seem familiar to users of Windows 7, the six-year-old operating system still running on most PCs.

Microsoft and PC makers want to erase the memory of the last big update, 2012's Windows 8, which alienated many with its jarring, unwieldy design.

Microsoft skipped the name Windows 9, as if to distance itself further from the last release.

While many analysts believe Windows 8 made sagging PC sales even worse, it's unclear if Windows 10 will spur the industry back to growth.