Newsletter Archives

• Am I part of the attack bot?

  Posted on December 30, 2024 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  The other day, a headline popped up that made me stop and read the news story.

  It was all about the American government’s considering blocking the vendor TP-Link from selling routers. TP-link happens to be a vendor I rely on for my wireless access point, but it has also been called out by Microsoft and other vendors who say its products may be used in attacks.

  Many of these units not been updated by the vendor to fix issues that allow them to be used by other bad actors in group attacks.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.53.0, 2024-12-30).

  On Security DNS, Edge Devices, Exchange, Firewalls, Firmware Update, ISPs, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Routers, TP-Link

• How my Internet outage caused security problems

  Posted on September 23, 2024 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  I live in a city with electricity, high-speed Internet, and all the other customary modern conveniences.

  In that same city dwell squirrels, birds (including beautiful hummingbirds), possums, kit foxes, bees, and too many others to mention. Although they’re lovely to have around, they are not necessarily the best of neighbors. Interaction with them doesn’t always work out, and sometimes that affects my technology — and even my security.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.39.0, 2024-09-23).

  On Security Insects, Internet, Internet connectivity, ISPs, Multifactor Authentication, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Performance, Security, Squirrels, Wiring, Xfinity

• Home-networking primer, part 2

  Posted on August 19, 2024 at 02:41 CDT by Ed Tittel • Comment in the Forums

  NETWORKING

  

  By Ed Tittel

  It’s time to revisit home-networking tools and technologies, especially on the wireless side of things.

  In this, the second of a two-part series about the basics of Windows networking at home, we progress into the boundary devices used to connect your local-area network to the provider’s network and on to the Internet. We’ll touch on device economics, mesh networks, and the enduring value and appeal of wired Ethernet in our ever-more-wireless world.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.34.0, 2024-08-19).

  Networking Boundary devices, Home Networks, ISPs, mesh networks, Newsletters, Routers

• Home-networking primer

  Posted on August 12, 2024 at 02:43 CDT by Ed Tittel • Comment in the Forums

  NETWORKING

  

  By Ed Tittel

  Nearly 9 out of 10 American households and businesses can access gigabit-speed Internet service. Now’s the time to up your home-networking ante and make the most of what’s available.

  According to NCTA (the former National Cable & Telecommunications Association, now known at the Internet & Television Association), “most Americans have broadband at home.” Here’s a more interesting set of follow-on statistics.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.33.0, 2024-08-12).

  Networking Cable, FIOS, Internet, Internet Speed, ISPs, Networking, Newsletters, Wi-Fi

• Hardening for privacy

  Posted on November 27, 2023 at 02:41 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PRIVACY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Privacy means different things to different people.

  At the office, we want to keep our information private from certain individuals and certain departments, but not from ultimate business needs.

  In fact, we will often “spy” on our own employees. Want to know exactly what your users in the office do? Consider an analytics app such as ActivTrak to monitor the productivity of employees.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.48.0, 2023-11-27).

  Privacy DNS, DNS over HTTP, ISP privacy, ISPs, Mozilla Foundation, Newsletters, OpenDNS, Patch Lady Posts, Privacy, Quad9