Michael Horowitz |
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I have spoken at conferences three times (twice on Router Security, once on Defensive Computing). Each talk is on this personal YouTube playlist.
2022
Again, for 4 years, I forgot this page existed.
2018
- I was mentioned on the February 27, 2018 edition of Steve Gibson's Security Now podcast. The previous week Steve had said that DNS servers, hard coded in a computer, over-rode those in the router. While this is sometimes true, it is not always true. I wrote to him that "Peplink routers can over-ride all DNS requests from devices connected to their routers. In this case you WILL use the DNS servers in the router, NOT those hard coded in your computer. From the perspective of the router, its easy, just look for outgoing port 53 traffic." Gibson read my note on the show and it generated a five minute discussion with show host Leo Laporte. Read the transcript (search for my name) or listen to the audio at SoundCloud.com. If the subject interests you, I also blogged about it,
see Routers can force their DNS servers onto all devices.
2016
- For the most part, I broke the story about TP-LINK
losing control of a couple domains used for configuring routers and other TP-LINK devices. The story was picked up almost everywhere, with the best coverage on Steve Gibson's Security Now podcast of July 5, 2016. Read
a transcript or listen
to audio (7 minutes)
2015
2014
- I spoke on Securing a Home Router at the HOPE conference on July 20, 2014.
A PDF of the presentation and audio are both available (see home page for links).
I hope to turn this into a Router Security website. Work started on this at the end of Jan. 2015.
Brief description: Routers are a perfect target for abuse. The presentation will explain some of the configuration options in routers that can make your Local Area Network more secure. Among these are locking down access to the router, Wi-Fi security, firewalls, DNS, and hiding on the Internet. Also covered are known security flaws in routers and how to defend against them. Some of the covered flaws are: WPS, UPnP, port 32764 and smartphones leaking Wi-Fi passwords.
2013
2012
- I forgot about updating this page.
2011
- I forgot about updating this page.
2010
- I forgot about updating this page.
2009
2008
2007
2006
- My Secure Submit web page was mentioned in
the August 17, 2006 issue of the Support
Alert Newsletter by Gizmo Richard.
- I spoke about two topics: Hard Disk Partitions and Buying a New Computer at the NYPC
General Meeting June 15, 2006
- I spoke about Spyware at the NYPC General Meeting February 16, 2006
2005
- The September
29, 2005 issue of the Langa List newsletter, by Fred Langa, included a
letter from me about problems with version 6 of the ZoneAlarm firewall.
- The August 22, 2005 issue of the Langa List newsletter, by
Fred Langa, included a letter from me regarding a problem with Windows XP
wanting to install the same printer every time it boots. I experienced this
with a Samsung printer and documented
it on computergripes.com. I found one solution and readers of the page
have found others. The letter was in the Plus! edition which is only
available to paid subscribers.
- I spoke at the July 21, 2005 General Meeting of the NYPC
User Group about Remote Control (NetMeeting, Remote Desktop, Go To My PC, etc.)
- My Java Tester web site was mentioned in the June 1, 2005 issue of the Privacy
Watch newsletter from PC World Magazine.
- My Links That Lie web page was mentioned
in the March
3, 2005 edition of Karen Kenworthy's newsletter.
- My Spyware removal page got mentioned in Scot's Newsletter from Scot
Finnie. February 2005 issue.
Scot re-published the article at Security Pipeline:
Anti-Spyware Technology Needs To Get
Better January 31, 2005
- My Rebates page
on computergripes.com was mentioned in Followup: The Rebate Debate
on January 18, 2005. This article, from the WinXPnews newsletter by Sunbelt Software,
is excellent and should be read by anyone who has ever filed a rebate. It
is a follow-up to The Rebate Hassle: Is it Worth It?
in the January 11, 2005 issue of the newsletter.
- My Removing Spyware page got mentioned in More on safe
computing by David Strom in his Web Informant newsletter. January 10, 2005.
2004
- My Firefox gripes got mentioned in Secrets of Firefox 1.0
by Brian Livingston. This was the December 2, 2004 issue of the Windows
Secrets newsletter. There is a short, free version of this newsletter and a
longer, paid edition. I was also mentioned
in the paid edition.
- I spoke at the November 18, 2004 General Meeting of the NYPC
User Group giving a brief rundown of some of the things that need to be
done/installed/tweaked on a new computer.
- My backup class was mentioned in Newsday
by Lou Dolinar November 14, 2004. The reference was regarding Replicator
a great, free backup program that is covered in the class.
- My JavaTester web site was mentioned in the
TechLove With Mr. Roboto column in the Village Voice by Brendan I. Koerner.
November 2nd, 2004
- Steve Bass mentioned my Spyware Removal page in PC World magazine. More Spyware Prevention and Removal
October 27, 2004. The article was re-published at MSN
Tech & Gadgets.
- Fred Langa published a note from me about my Bad Emails page in the
September 30, 2004 issue of the Langa List
- Fred Langa published a note from me about my review of NASLite in the
September 13, 2004 issue of the Langa
List
- David Strom mentioned my Removing Spyware page in an article he wrote on
the subject for Security
Pipeline Opinion: Cleaning Up
Your System which also appeared at Desktop
Pipeline. August 30, 2004
- Computer Gripes was mentioned in Ten
things I hate about tech in the Sydney Morning Herald August 21,2004
- My Removing Spyware page got
cited by Lockergnome August 20, 2004
- My Firefox gripes were also cited by Fred Langa in his newsletter, the Langa
List on July 22, 2004
- I was mentioned for my Firefox gripes in Can
Your Site Survive Firefox? by Brian Livingston in Datamation July 19, 2004
- My Computer Gripes site was mentioned in the April 15, 2004 edition of the
Neat Net Tricks newsletter.
- In March 2004, my Java Tester web site was named a Computing
Coolsite by Emerald (see the software section).
- In February 2004, my Computer Gripes site was named a Computing
Coolsite by Emerald. Their review is archived in their software
section which has a direct
link to it.
- In January 2004 while discussing moving his web sites, Fred Langa mentioned
my gripes about Hostcentric.
2003
- I was mentioned by Lou Dolinar in his column
in Newsday on December 2, 2003. The subject was backing up your computer.
- I spoke on Defensive Email at the New
York Amateur Computer Club November 13, 2003
- I lectured to the NYPC User Group on
September 16, 2003 about Securing Your Computer.
- Fred Langa published a letter from me in the August 18, 2003 Plus
edition of his newsletter. The topic was how best to share Windows between
parents and children. Read it here
- Fred Langa published a long letter from me on upgrading Windows in the
April 24, 2003 issue of his newsletter, The Langa List. The letter was about
four ways to update an old version of
Windows to a new one on the same computer. Read it here.
In an unusual turn for him, my letter was the entire expanded
"plus" material. Three computer user groups reprinted it: The
Sun City Anthem Computer Club, the South
Eastern Michigan Computer Organization and the Canton/Alliance/Massillon
User Group.
- Jim Eshelman links to my Java Tester
site from his page that lists Windows
Support Sites. That page has links to helpful web pages where you can
find help for Windows problems. He described the site as: "The best site for
addressing Java’s presence on your computer. See if Java is installed and
enabled. Learn what version you have".
- On April 4, 2003 my JavaTester site was a
hot site
in USA Today
- LockerGnome mentioned my JavaTester
site in their daily newsletter GnomeREPORT on
February 19, 2003
- Fred Langa printed a note I sent him in his Langa
List newsletter of January 30, 2003. The subject was cleaning out old
service pack folders.
- The Screen
Savers show on Tech TV said nice things about my Java Tester
web site on their January 24, 2003 show.
- My Java Tester web site was
mentioned in Scot
Finnie's newsletter of January 21, 2003.
2002
- My Java Tester web site was
mentioned in David Strom's newsletter of December 28, 2002. The topic was
The trouble with Java
- I was mentioned in the November 11, 2002 issue of Business Week Magazine regarding
keychain
flash ram storage devices
- My backup script was
featured in the August 26, 2002 issue of the Langa List newsletter by Fred
Langa. There is a free and paid
version of his newsletter. The script was one of the extras for
subscribers to the paid version. As such, access to the article is limited
to his paid subscribers.
- I was mentioned in the April
2002 issue of Mark Minasi's Windows 2000/NT Newsletter
(Issue #22) regarding ad-hoc WiFi wireless networking.
(1)
2001
- I got a special thank-you from Scot Finnie in the October 17, 2001
issue of his newsletter for some help in debugging the transfer of his
web site from one hosting company to another.
- I got mentioned in David Strom's
newsletter, the Web Informant on October 10, 2001.
He raved about, what was then, the newly released Norton
Anti-Virus 2002. In response, I sent him some gripes which he linked to in the online
version of the newsletter.
- I was mentioned in the May
15, 2001 issue of Scot Finnie's newsletter regarding ZoneAlarm.
- In an article on CPU-Slowdown Sleuthing
Fred Langa published a message of mine. May 7, 2001.
- I was interviewed
by John Rhodes of WebWord in February 2001 about the Computer Gripes web site
2000
- I was referred to as "something of a NetMeeting maven" in the May 2000 issue of Mark Minasi's Windows 2000/NT Newsletter
(Issue #5). Mark printed a letter I wrote about NetMeeting.
(1)
And . . .
My hobby web site, Computer Gripes, has also gotten some
publicity of its own
(1)
Before you can see archives of Mark Minasi's newsletter, you have to subscribe
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