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NETGEAR Armor™ powered by Bitdefender® Advanced Cyber Threat Protection
NETGEAR is launching a new comprehensive security service to provide security for any device connected via a NETGEAR router. NETGEAR Armor™ powered by Bitdefender® the award-winning leader in cyber security, is an advanced multilayer solution that runs on NETGEAR routers and connected devices to actively detect and protect your home and family members from cyber threats, such as viruses, spyware, spam, and phishing. Visit the full NETGEAR Armor press release page. To be first introduced on the Nighthawk AC2300 Smart WiFi router (R7000P) later this quarter, NETGEAR Armor will be made available for the Orbi Whole Home WiFi system and the popular Nighthawk performance routers later in the year via firmware updates. The NETGEAR Armor firmware update provides central security to instantly protect all PCs, Macs, smart phones and tablets, and smart home devices from cyber threats. The subscription will also bundle Bitdefender Total Security anti-malware software for Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android devices, all under a single subscription. This new security service will block, at the gateway, attempts to access phishing websites from within the home network so that your privacy and data is always protected. Network security has become an area of increasingly greater concern with the addition of smart home and IoT devices to the home network, which are always on and always connected introducing new potential vulnerabilities. While PC, security has long been a mainstay of the office and home, the multitude of connected devices now available pose new, potential security risks for consumers. “The need for an all-encompassing cybersecurity solution for the home is more critical than ever.” said Ciprian Istrate, Bitdefender’s vice president of Consumer Solutions. “After launching the first home cyber security solution that can protect connected devices that fall under the umbrella of Internet of Things, Bitdefender is now taking consumer cyber security to the next level with NETGEAR delivering the protection straight from the router." NETGEAR Armor has the features that one would need to keep a home network and all connected IoT, smart home and personal mobile devices safe and secure from anywhere in the world. NETGEAR Armor consists the following: Safe Browsing with URL Blocking With NETGEAR Armor, you actively safeguard your network from threats, including Trojans, ransomware, zero-day exploits, rootkits and spyware. Fake websites trying to steal financial data such as passwords or credit card numbers are automatically blocked, as are malicious links in browsers, emails, or apps. You can even find out whether your search results are safe to access before you actually click on a link, as you’ll be warned against websites that can leak login credentials if the authentication is not performed via https. Vulnerability Assessment NETGEAR Armor quickly scans your network for connected devices open to unauthorized access, data theft or malicious attacks. It checks for password strength, firmware version and any weakness that can allow hackers access to your entire home network. It’s easy to run a thorough report that includes tips for eliminating specific vulnerabilities, or to simply check the status of your devices and address any issues then and there. Intelligent Network Intrusion Prevention NETGEAR Armor blocks hackers from accessing your smart-home devices such as internet-enabled thermostats, refrigerators, baby monitors, and security cameras. You’ll receive instant alerts when new devices join your network, so you can immediately reject WiFi access request for devices you don’t recognize. For ultimate convenience, you can easily manage your network security from anywhere by going to http://armor.netgear.com. End-point Protection with Bitdefender Total Security NETGEAR Armor includes Bitdefender Total Security anti-malware for Android, iOS, Windows PCs, and Macs whether at home or anywhere. Using intelligent behavioral detection, NETGEAR Armor closely monitors all active apps and the moment the service detects suspicious activity, it takes instant action to prevent trouble, as it is designed to respond within three seconds to even the newest known threats. By turning on the optional Autopilot™ feature, all cybersecurity decisions can be made without pop-ups or dialog boxes to distract you from your work or play. “For over 20 years, NETGEAR has led the industry as the best in class WiFi provider and has been first to market in providing new technologies for both home and office networks. Now, with the introduction of NETGEAR Armor, we are making the network smarter and safer for the new world of IoT and always connected devices,” said David Henry, senior vice president of Connected Home for NETGEAR. “This move is critical for our customers whose homes now have many networked devices, including Smart Home and IOT devices – any one of which may pose a potential security risk. Following on our recent launch of Circle with Disney Parental Controls, NETGEAR Armor is the next in a line of services we are introducing to enhance our customer’s experience with their network.” Additional Features Shield your network from malicious encryption programs that demand ransom for your personal data. Manage and configure every device connecting or attempting to connect to the network. Get instant notifications when new devices connect to your network. Assess your WiFi network and router security from remote computers and smartphones. Secure your passwords, credit card information, and other sensitive data in a cyber-vault for easy access. Bank and shop with Safepay™, a unique, dedicated browser that secures your transactions. Continuous and automatic security updates. NETGEAR Armor protects home networks without sacrificing network speed, performance or privacy. The service scans your network, identifying every device connected to it. Scanning is fast and light on resources as it mostly occurs in the cloud to maximize power and efficiency. Home routers and personal devices are rarely taxed to perform power-hungry or processor-intensive tasks. And the service never scans or stores the actual contents of any documents or files. Pricing and Availability NETGEAR Armor powered by Bitdefender will first be available via firmware upgrade on Nighthawk AC2300 Smart WiFi router (R7000P) later this quarter and will be available in the coming months via firmware updates for Orbi and the current lineup of Nighthawk routers. After the promotional 90 days of free service, the annual subscription cost is $69.99 (USD). Bitdefender fair use policy limits to 20 seats per subscription.Nighthawk Mesh WiFi Extenders - Extend your WiFi with 1 SSID #Blog
Before Nighthawk Mesh WiFi Extenders, traditional extenders were the only way to increase coverage in more places, using your ISP provided router. However, that often meant sacrificing some WiFi performance. Additionally, with different network names for the router and the extender, it was not a seamless experience whatsoever. Your device would have limited in the capabilities to migrate between the router and extender, so one would have to manually switch between router and extender when moving throughout a home network. Most people would love to replace their Verizon Fios or AT&T U-verse gateway with a mesh system, but unfortunately, this is often not an option available to them. Many of the service providers require that their subscribers use the service provider’s gateway (modem/router) for their internet, TV, or phone service, and do not offer the flexibility to switch to a full mesh system. You have the option of the full-sized desktop, Nighthawk X6S Tri-Band WiFi Mesh Extender, or the wall-plug, the Nighthawk X4S Tri-Band WiFi Mesh Extender. It’s the ultimate experience for you and your family to enjoy your WiFi with more coverage for more devices. Read the full Nighthawk Mesh WiFi Extenders article from the NETGEAR Blog. Join the Nighthawk Mesh WiFi Extender discussion in the NETGEAR Forums. Are you using Nighthawk Mesh extenders? Let us know how your Nighthawk Mesh extender is working for you in the comments below.
Router locking up? Wifi failing? No internet? Turn off DNS Proxy!
My low-end, business-grade router has been having increasingly common failures over the past year, but the problem really got bad over the last month. It finally prompted me to look for solutions, and I found these two articles: http://www.darkreading.com/cloud/sharp-rise-in-dns-based-ddos-last-year-signals-larger-more-frequent-attacks-in-2015/d/d-id/1318982 https://threatpost.com/dns-based-amplification-attacks-key-on-home-routers/105220 Neither article - or any other that I found among the first few searches that I did - said anything about a solution as simple as turning off the DNS proxy in the router, but that seems to have worked in my case. The ramifications of this are that attached systems will have to go out to your ISP's DNS servers for every name request - in other words, very slightly slowing web page loads - but the ISP's servers will likely be robust enough to not have problems related to the above mentioned vulnerability. It seems that some of our routers do. The longer term solution will likely involve a firmware update that fixes the DNS proxy so that it can no longer be corrupted by unrequested, WAN-side DNS updates. But knowing our favorite vendor, that might take a while. In the meantime, try this easy workaround. Post back with your results, and please mention the router model that you have. Hope that helps! Jim Rothe, CISSP running a Netgear FVS318N
