Tag Archives: CyberSecurity

This next-gen Wi-Fi router with a Built-in VPN lets you access the internet without anyone stealing your data

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Sure, your phone and laptop have VPNs… but does your smart speaker? Your home camera? Smart doorbell? Baby monitor? It’s easy to think of yourself as protected when your primary device operates on a VPN, but the truth is that our houses are filled with IoT devices that remain vulnerable to brute force because of one weak point of entry – a basic router. The Rio Router aims to change that with a built-in VPN, device allowlisting protocols, guest network features, and the ability to set parental controls from the router itself. Whether it’s a government trying to snoop on you, someone trying to hack you, companies trying to sell your data, or your internet service provider secretly gathering info about you, the Rio Router cuts it all off right at the source. It encrypts information in a way that anonymizes your entire smart home, so you can browse the internet freely, and your smart home gadgets can access the internet without being vulnerable to data theft.

Designer: Rio Router

Click Here to Buy Now: $299 $549 ($250 off). Hurry, only 15/290 left! Raised over $136,000.

Most routers are designed to help you access the internet, but that access can sometimes be a double-edged sword, creating a path for bad-faith actors to access your IoT devices and even the data within them. A simple WiFi password can only do so much, right? That’s why the Rio Router uses a protocol that requires you to personally allowlist any device connecting to your network. Every IoT device gets approved by you, and if there’s any device you don’t approve of trying to connect to your network, it doesn’t get access to your network or to the devices on it. Think of it as a security guard that only allows you into a building if you have the right ID, and turns you away if you don’t.

Even for approved devices accessing the internet through the Rio Router, all data gets encrypted through the router’s built-in VPN. This offers two distinct benefits – for starters, it lets you access the internet and streaming services without any government or geolocation restrictions (yes, that means being able to use TikTok even if it gets banned), but it also encrypts all personal information so that your internet service provider doesn’t get unfettered access to your life… or even corporations like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon that feed off of information from smart home devices.

Obviously, that level of access does come with its downsides – you want your family to stay safe from potentially dangerous websites. The router allows you to set parental controls for specific devices, preventing your child’s laptop or tablet from being able to access harmful sites, and an integrated DNS and web filtering system provides all-around protection, preventing all devices from accessing malicious sites that could scam/phish you or corrupt your device with ransomware.

Following the security guard analogy from earlier, think of your internet connection as a building with multiple wings/departments. Different employees can only access the wings or departments they are authorized to, and a low-level employee can’t necessarily go snooping in the CEO’s office or through the confidential file room. Similarly, the Rio Router creates dedicated rooms for each category of devices. Your smart kitchen gadgets can’t access or communicate with your bedroom’s smart devices even if they’re on the same network. This technology, known as SecureRoom™, helps create dedicated chambers for different internet devices, so every gadget on the same network doesn’t necessarily have access to all the data on the network. The SecureRoom™ is a brilliant way of ensuring that your gadgets don’t have access to information they don’t have clearance for. Your living room smart speaker doesn’t necessarily know what’s happening in the kitchen, and the baby monitor in the bedroom isn’t vulnerable to being snooped on by your thermostat.

The SecureRoom™ system also allows you to create guest networks for when you have people visiting you at home. No more sharing passwords for the main WiFi network – guests get to access the internet through a SecureRoom™ guest network. Their data stays safe and so does yours – you can approve devices to the SecureRoom™ to ensure that nobody else is accessing the internet, and once your guests leave your house, they’re removed permanently from the network and can only access the internet once you grant them approval.

The Rio Router runs WiFi 6 for fast and reliable connections from every corner of your house and even comes with an iOS/Android app that lets you control the router, set protocols, create SecureRooms™, and grant/deny approvals to external devices. It gives you the liberating taste of what true internet freedom feels like, allowing you to rely on IoT devices without the fear of them spying on you, as well as preventing anyone from hacking into your network or even accessing data they’re not privy to. It also helps that you can now browse international titles on your streaming service so even if The Office leaves Netflix in the USA, it’s still available in some other country!

It’s 2024, and if your internet service provider is giving you a free router with your connection, you’d best not trust it with all your data. After all, if it’s free, you’re the product. The Rio Router starts at $299 and comes with a free app, and VPN service free for 12 months. You can use the Rio to set up as many as 4 different SSIDs (WiFi access points), 8 Rio mesh extenders, and up to 16 SecureRooms™ at a time.

Click Here to Buy Now: $299 $549 ($250 off). Hurry, only 15/290 left! Raised over $136,000.

The post This next-gen Wi-Fi router with a Built-in VPN lets you access the internet without anyone stealing your data first appeared on Yanko Design.

This discreet VPN connects to your device to establish a secure connection and keep your data safe!

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Since most of our workdays take place online, the use of VPNs for secure web surfing has steadily risen in popularity. Some of us may use VPNs to freely access the internet via a secure connection and to ensure that our data is encrypted and inaccessible by cyber intruders. They come in handy when working on hush-hush jobs such as upcoming campaigns or classified projects. Adding his VPN design to the mix, Ian Redcay conceptualized Black, a virtual private network and hardware solution for data protection and unrestricted internet access for the everyday user.

Traditionally, VPNs have operated as online services or expensive hardware systems bought by companies to protect their data, while remaining mostly unavailable to the average consumer. To create a more accessible solution for consumers who’d like to freely interact with the web through an established secure connection, Redcay designed Black. All but for the transparent compartment that encases Black’s internal PCB, the portable VPN device dons a jet black exterior. The subtle and contrasting combination of transparency and opacity expresses Black’s dual purpose of data encryption and open internet access.

While Black’s exterior might be a focal point in and of itself, the hardware’s exterior works with its internal function to merge aesthetics with practicality. Once a user connects to Black through their personal device, whether a laptop or smartphone, then integrated VPN processing encrypts the user’s data while managing network access to protect the user’s anonymity. In addition to Black’s main function of data encryption, features such as silent air vents and LED indicators further drive home Black’s commitment to obscurity. Through minimal branding and understated design elements, Redcay conceptualized a VPN device that is as inconspicuous and guarded in appearance as it is slick and efficient in function.

Designer: Ian Redcay

Black’s exposed PCB allows users to witness the internal processes within VPN hardware.

Black was inspired by classic and contemporary tech design solutions.

Black is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, yet stealthy enough to protect your data from anywhere.

Air vents are located above and beneath the PCB to allow cold air to passively cool components during extended use.

“The exposed internal circuit board provides visual context to data encryption as it occurs within the device through a winding array of circuits and internal components,” remarks Redcay.

Maintaining its cohesive brand identity, everything from Black’s purpose to its packaging remains sleek in obscurity and aesthetic.

The small nature of Black provides it with a portability feature that lets you bring data protection anywhere you go.

On the overall look of Black, Redcay says, “Black’s branding is minimal at most; a small monogram that is hardly discernible from afar, unifying the identity of the brand and function of the device through a consistent visual language.”

Kaspersky’s 2021 calendar comes with a mini cyber-history lesson that coincides with each numerical month!

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What day is it again? After a year like 2020, I know I’m not the only one who needs the reminder. For that reason alone, 2021 marks the first year I bought a physical calendar. Depending on your style, calendars can bring more than just daily reminders– they provide a fun way of setting the tone for each year. The team at Kaspersky, a global cybersecurity company based in Russia, in collaboration with a handful of designers and artists recently debuted their calendar for 2021 and with it, they’re passing down their expertise in handling cyber threats.

Kaspersky is a company known for its deep threat intelligence and cybersecurity insight, protecting businesses, consumers, and government agencies with innovative security solutions. Their 2021 calendar basks in this cybersecurity insight, providing fun facts that coincide with each numerical month for you to read as a new month begins. For example, January, the first month of the year, introduces the story of the first-ever computer virus. Originating in Pakistan, from two brothers’ quest to protect their medical software from producing illegal copies, the first computer virus was dubbed, “The Brain.” Once the virus was written by the brothers, who had no malicious intent, it spread to the United Kingdom and the United States through transference by infected floppy disks.

September, the ninth month of the year, is represented by the story of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony getting recorded on a CD-ROM. Kaspersky’s calendar reads, “In 1980, Sony and Philips were beginning to negotiate a single industry standard for the new compact disc technology. Sony’s vice-president, Norio Ohga, suggested that Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony would…fit onto a CD in its entirety.” In addition to reminding us of the days of the week, and the month of the year, Kaspersky’s calendar brings us closer to moments of cyber-history that largely remain untold, bringing us closer to the cyber world one day at a time. Scroll below to read more!

Designer: Kaspersky

Each month of Kapersky’s calendar offers a historical fact relating to the cyberworld.

“The first spread computer virus was [called] the ‘Brain.'”

“HTTP works with three-digit status codes. Status 404 is an answer to a client’s request, signifying that the page is not found. We only see the status ‘404’ because for a normal webpage, the status is 200 OK. We don’t see [‘200 OK’] because the server proceeds to send the contents of the page.”

“Only 10% of the world’s currency exists physically, the rest is a mere set of zeroes and ones. That percentage [is] lowering swiftly because of online payments and plastic cards.”

“In 1980…Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony …[was] fit onto a CD in its entirety. That was the final argument about CD’s volume.”

President Biden appoints ‘world-class’ cybersecurity team in wake of hacks

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President Biden is elevating the importance of cybersecurity in light of the SolarWinds hack that compromised multiple government institutions. Reuters reports that Biden has appointed (and will soon appoint) a host of officials well-versed in cybers...