Are You the Biggest Threat to Your Own Network?
Weekly Wheaties #2544
In this newsletter:
📝 Post: Are You the Biggest Threat to Your Own Network?
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: New Android Hardware
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: AI Updates
😎 Pick of the Week: Weird Stops
📦 Featured Product: Laser Tape Measure
📝 Are You the Biggest Threat to Your Own Network?
Over the last few weeks, I’ve talked about online threats, hacking, and app eavesdropping, to name a few. Since writing, I’ve had a few questions about security I hope to answer here. In a sense, these topics (and many others) fall into one of two categories regarding your online safety. They are either an internal or an external threat. While we typically think of most threats as coming from outside our home or business, many threats actually originate from ‘inside’ our network. However, this can be a bit deceiving if not explained fully, as it is also a significant gray area.
Let’s first start with the basics of external threats. This means bad actors are actively trying to penetrate your network and gain access to cause harm or steal information. This can be done physically (from inside your home or business), or remotely (even from the other side of the world). If these hackers do gain access, they can make changes to your network, computers, websites, email, and much more. Many of the ransomware attacks you may have seen are typically because of this. There are also many forms of targeted attacks, where the hacker seeks out a user (once learning of an email, password, social security number, address, or the like) to then cause harm.
There are ways to protect against external threats, but the tricky part here is that they may be a result of a first successful internal threat. More on this later, though. To have a safe network and protect against these internal threats, we can rely on a few key security measures. The first layer is the Internet Service Provider (ISP) in use. Whether you realize it or not, they do actually protect from threats behind the scenes. However, we don’t always see what this looks like, as many of these outside threats are blocked before they ever reach us.
To that point, you may ask, “Well then, why won’t our ISP protect us from all threats?” For starters, that’s almost impossible and would require a significant amount of resources on top of what they already have in place. Next, they legally (or morally, maybe?) don’t want to overstep by ‘protecting’ us too much, because that would require them to block sites we may want to visit. More on this from the second level to protect against external threats… a firewall.
To connect your home to an ISP, you must use a modem and router. Typically, these are combined in one device, but they can be separate. Just a side note here, I typically suggest renting your router from your ISP because it’s much easier to stay up to date with security features, and your all but guaranteed to know it will work efficiently. If you ever lose network connectivity, this is one less thing to worry about, and your ISP can help troubleshoot much more easily.
In most cases, your router/modem device will also have a very basic firewall. A firewall can be a separate piece of hardware, but the secret lies in its software, which monitors and controls all internet traffic based on specific rules. I may write another post specifically on firewalls in the future, but this is the part of the chain that allows you to “Block all [social media/gaming/streaming] sites,” for example. Many newer routers come with basic firewall features, allowing homeowners to be selective about what they allow on their networks.
Arguably, any site that could be used to transmit viruses through documents or the like would need to be blocked. From an ISP standpoint, that is probably 99% of the network traffic. So blocking anything with a rule on the firewall may not be suitable for all customers. They have to be fairly loose in what they allow through and let the customer decide from their end what to block or not.
Once we’re within the network and on a personal device (e.g., phone, tablet, computer), this is where internal threats typically occur. Meaning, if you visit a bad website, click on a suspicious link in your email or text, or download a bad file - even though it may have come from ‘outside’ of your network, something internal gave it access to cause harm. In a sense, we are our own worst enemy. However, this is also why having a firewall or some sort of security software can help mitigate those issues.
While most internal threats are in fact part of a hacking/cyber attack, there are steps that you should take to keep your internal network safe as well. For starters, make sure your WiFi network is password-protected with a long, secure password or changed often. For your phones, tablets, and computers - make sure they require a pin or password before being able to login. If you physically write down passwords, don’t leave them out in the open or taped to the device itself. I’ve also highly suggested multiple times - don’t use the same password more than once, and use a password manager!
At the end of the day, these internal and external threats can be thwarted by staying alert, keeping software up to date, and forming good habits (don’t answer spam calls or texts, be careful clicking on or visiting websites, keep passwords safe and secure). At the risk of repeating myself - read pop-ups on your phones! Too often, we (I’m guilty myself) hurry and click “Accept” or “Cancel” during an app login or setup, and we have no idea what we just agreed to. The more intentional we are with our digital actions, the less likely we are to be a target or victim.
As technology keeps advancing, so do the threats that come with it. What actions are you taking to help keep yourself safe online (both physically and digitally)?
🗞️ ICYMI: New Android Hardware
Samsung launches the Galaxy XR headset - their alternative to Apple’s Vision Pro. At $1800, the price is still a bit steep compared to the less expensive Meta Quest options. There are differences in the 3 major players, however. Typically, the Meta set of options is mainly used for gaming, whereas the Apple and Android versions allow desktop computing-type activities and can mirror some mobile apps (including some games).
On the phone side of things, the OnePlus 15 was released in China, and is likely to come to the US on November 13. There have also been a lot of reviews on the Xiaomi 17 Pro, a Cheap Android Phone That Looks Near-Identical To The Latest iPhone. However, it and the Nothing Phone 3a are not available for purchase in the US - yet. And probably won’t be anytime soon.
🗞️ ICYMI: AI Updates
We’ve seen the headlines a few times now as Tens of thousands of layoffs are being blamed on AI. Experts say there may be more to the story. While the layoffs may be disguised as AI-related, it appears many companies are either bloated in staff or not profitable and looking to improve their bottom line. As the years pass and AI becomes more involved and integrated, I still believe companies will grow to do more things as AI takes the place of tasks. At least leaving us with a steady workforce. These companies are still growing to drive trillion-dollar valuations. One such by-product came from Elon Musk’s xAI LLM. The “open source, comprehensive collection of all knowledge,” Grokpedia, launched last week and crashed on its first day.
😎 POTW: Weird Stops
Halloween is now behind us, and perhaps you hit play for the first time this year on your favorite playlist. But before you finalize the rest of your fall travels, consider some of these interesting stops and give your family something to chat about around the dinner table:
📦 Featured Product
If you’re doing any type of home renovation, whether inside or out, you’re probably using some type of tape measure. However, measuring further distances quickly, accurately, and by yourself can be very difficult. Many of my realtor friends use a laser measuring tool, with the most popular being the Bosch. However, if you’d like to try something a bit smaller in size and less expensive, consider the Hoto. It’s also USB-C powered rather than AAA batteries. Both can help with conversions and show previous measurements.
