PEAK Internet

2009 July – President’s Letter

Get out and about this month, there is plenty to do! Independence Day is coming up and each of our local communities is celebrating with festivities. In Corvallis the Red, White, and Blues Festival takes place on the Willamette River waterfront (Downtown Corvallis). In Albany, Summer Fest at Timber Linn Park features a battle of the bands concert and a car show (Albany Summer Fest). The Star-Spangled Celebration in Lebanon is billed as “An Old-Fashioned 4th of July Celebration,” don’t miss it! (Star Spangled Celebration) On the coast, don’t miss the Newport celebration in Yaquina Bay and Nye Beach Clambake (Newport Chamber).

Beyond the Independence Day celebrations PEAK is also sponsoring three events in July that are sure to be a blast. The annual da Vinci Days Festival – a three day festival celebrating art, science and technology is coming up on July 17-19 (da Vinci Days). PEAK is a premier sponsor of the event and will be providing wireless Internet service to the outdoor event, so bring your Wi-Fi-enabled device and enjoy! Gear up for the Philomath Frolic and Rodeo July 9-12 at the Philmomath Rodeo grounds. PEAK has been a long standing sponsor of this prominent rodeo and I recommend it for some excellent family fun (Philomath Frolic & Rodeo). Rounding out the activities in the month of July is the Benton County Fair (Benton County Fair & Rodeo) from July 29th to August 1st. Join in on their 2009 theme of “Carnival Lights and Country Nights” and enjoy the festivities. Also be sure to attend Saturday night at the fair when PEAK Internet presents the main stage performer, Johnny Limbo and the Lugnuts. It’s going to be to be a busy month, be sure to get out and enjoy the summer.

This month I also wanted to take some time to address some of the ongoing issues with email blacklisting and password strength. You’ve probably noticed some of your emails being blocked by other email providers, such as Yahoo or Hotmail. This is the result of those providers blacklisting the PEAK mail servers, a process by which your emails get blocked for a certain amount of time. We understand that this causes a disruption to your communications and so it is something we are constantly working on to eliminate. However it is something that is partially out of our hands to resolve completely, that’s why we need your help. Let me give you a quick breakdown on the anatomy of the issue. It all starts with a weak password and a PEAK email account. A weak password allows your email account to be compromised by a hacker or other user with malicious intent. Once they gain control of your account (and many others) the user can then launch a distributed spam campaign aimed at other users worldwide. The prevalence of these spam messages sent from a specific PEAK Internet address triggers a threshold that adds our mail servers to a blacklist. This isn’t the only scenario by which this can happen; it could also be the result of a compromised computer via virus. It could also be the result of responding to a phishing scam where you may accidently divulge your account information; so it is important that you maintain strong passwords and a safe computer. If you suspect your email account has been compromised, please let us know and we’ll be happy to assist with changing your password and cleaning up your account.

Once the PEAK mail servers are on a blacklist from another email provider, we have limited options. We can contact the provider through the appropriate channels and wait for a response which allows PEAK to be white listed, allowing open emailing again. Given this scenario it is important that the bulk of our efforts be placed on preventative measures against account hijacking. This means educating our users about the importance of strong passwords, enacting password rules, and promoting the safe usage of your computer. To aid in this matter I had our technical support team put together a short tutorial on password managers, a tool that helps you manage and securely store your passwords. We also have resources in the PEAK Blog, with posts about the dangers of email and phishing scams. You can visit the blog and find these resources at PEAK Blog. That covers your end of the partnership to end recent blacklisting difficulties, now what is PEAK doing to solve this problem?

Our task is to explore different methods to provide a reliable mail platform for those that use the email in a proper manner and to disable it for those that don’t. I’ve been pleased to see the efforts of our engineering staff to respond to this issue and I expect some announcements in the near future that provide additional protection against blacklisting. We’ll accomplish this by enforcing email limits, disabling unused accounts, and adding resiliency to our mail servers network addressing.

Spam and blacklisting is a complex issue that is shared by many ISP’s worldwide. However, we are confident that we have identified a plan to resolve many of the lingering culprits contributing to the problem. We plan to achieve this by working with our customers and educating everyone about password security and account usage. Additionally we plan on bolstering our email platform with some new techniques that will reduce the susceptibility to blacklist.

Thank you for your patience in this matter. We are working hard to make this the best email service to meet your needs. Working together we believe we can achieve this level.

Rick Petersen

Tech Support – Wireless Router

A wireless router is used to access the Internet or a computer network without the need for a cabled connection.  You can be in any room in your house and be connected to the Internet wirelessly.  The wireless router is a great thing; however it can allow you to enter into a world of problems.  That’s why it is important to secure your wireless router.

If your wireless router is not password protected, anyone within range of your wireless network can get an Internet connection causing you to lose speed or connection.  If someone hacks into your router, they can perform illegal activities for which you could be liable.  You can also unknowingly get or spread viruses.  It is also possible to access your personal information, such as websites visited, banking information, and credit card numbers.

In order to prevent these things from happening, you need to take these steps:

1.       Create a username and password for accessing your router

2.       Use MAC filtering to only allow only permitted computers to access your router.

3.       Enable Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) encryption and avoid Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption.

4.       Change the default SSID and don’t broadcast it.  This makes your wireless signal invisible to detect and harder for a hacker to detect.

A wireless router can cause some problems, but if you take the right precautions you can avoid a disaster.  With our High-Speed DSL service, we now provide an encrypted, secure wireless modem, so you don’t need a router.  Better yet, our agents will help you manage the wireless settings and troubleshoot if there are problems.  Interested in simplifying your wireless Internet hardware? The new Clear Access modems from PEAK Internet can be wirelessly activated for a one-time purchase fee or monthly lease fee.

2009 May – Tech Talk

Internet and Computer Security

The importance of Internet and computer security can never be underestimated. With your online identity and financial well-being at stake, it is important that you stay up-to-date on the latest practices and tools to keep you protected. Where can you turn? The Tech Talk crew is here to help! Join in as Jim and Dan discuss everything you need to know about your online and computer security.

Listen in as Dan goes over his comprehensive security guide. Review your password strategy and find out about different applications that will help you track and generate new passwords. Steer clear of new phishing scams and learn how to quickly determine if a suspicious e-mail is credible. Lastly, make sure your computer is protected with the proper anti-virus and malware protection. Tune in, the May episode of Tech Talk will help you master your Internet and computer security.

Don’t miss it. Tune-in or download this month’s show to get the latest in technology explained to you. You can download this podcast directly by going to http://www.peakinternet.com/techtalk

June 1, 2009 – Network Update

In May the Engineering team was able to accomplish several steps towards the goal of an upgraded

core network infrastructure at PEAK. These activities will continue in June as preparations are being made for new equipment to be installed in the coming months.

Below is an outline of the sub-projects within this whole process of upgrading our network this year.  I’ll be updating the blog occasionally so you can stay up to date on our progress.

Pioneer Gigabit Ethernet Circuit

The first actual upgrade will occur in July and will affect the Pioneer Telephone Internet customers.  Currently, we use OC3 (about 130 Mbps) ATM circuits to transfer bandwidth between PEAK and Pioneer.  As we planned for further bandwidth needs, it was important that we consider the ongoing exponential growth that is occurring in bandwidth usage.  So, instead of adding additional OC3 circuits it was decided that we would use a Gigabit (GigE), or 1000 Mbps, circuit between the two networks. This should allow a good amount of growth potential and add capacity for extreme peak usage times.  The use of the Gigabit circuit will require different equipment than what we currently have in place and explains the need for an upgrade.

New Internet Border Router in Corvallis

The PEAK Internet routing infrastructure has equipment in our building in Corvallis and in Portland where our upstream providers reside.  In Corvallis, our current core equipment is connected to a Northern route in Portland and to our Southern route through Eugene.  We will be upgrading this core equipment with two exact devices to add redundancy to the setup.  In Portland, where the routing is less complex, we will be using one redundant device to aggregate our Northern and Southern routes.  Both all of these devices are significant upgrades and will add to the already outstanding service level that PEAK is able to provide.

New Internet Border Router: Portland

The infrastructure in Portland routes traffic of our Top-Tier upstream providers down to our Corvallis office.  This device functions a border router and will be getting an upgrade in July along with the other network segment.

New Core Routers – Occurring Now

Over the past month, we have been busy implementing new dual routers to our network core in Corvallis.  These two devices site at the center of the PEAK infrastructure and are responsible for routing Internet packets to their destinations.  They are setup in a redundant configuration to prevent outages.  So, if one fails the other can affectively do the work of the other.  This upgrade is being made in conjunction with the border router upgrade being made in July and upon completion will yield a redundant and fault tolerant network to keep your service running.

As High-Speed Internet usage becomes more pervasive and web sites like YouTube or Hulu become household names, the requirements of Internet provider networks increases exponentially.  At PEAK our experience is no different, where we have noticed significant growth in bandwidth consumption over the past two years.  This round of network upgrades and investments is being made to ensure our network will be to provide reliability and speed for our customers as the Internet continues to grow and expand.

2009 June – President Letter

As we all make our way through this economic downturn, it’s more important than ever to maintain unwavering support for non-profit organizations and volunteer-driven charities in our surrounding communities. At PEAK we realize  these tough financial times have created a support deficit, and despite the downturn we are still dedicated to keeping a strong commitment to these groups. This month I wanted to take a moment to share with you a few of the different efforts we have participated in lately.

Not only does PEAK strive to be a good business by providing quality service to our customers, but also by providing the support and volunteers to our local non-profit organizations and charitable causes. In the past this has included direct contributions to the local Food Share organizations and other healthcare-related charities, such as the Mario Pastega House. Every year PEAK also sponsors a variety of local events, like da Vinci Days and the Oregon Covered Bridge Festivals. How about youth sports? PEAK is a sponsor of Boys & Girls youth sports teams every year and has continuing plans of making contributions to keep these efforts moving along. For hosting and service needs, PEAK offers discounts that help non-profits get their websites up and Internet service going.

In addition to monetary support, PEAK promotes a strong sense of volunteerism internally, encouraging employees to reach out and help. In accordance with our cultural guidelines each employee is allotted 16 hours of paid volunteer time each year. Our employees use this time in a variety of different activities ranging from highway clean-ups and volunteering at local Farmer’s Markets, to helping non-profit organizations network their office computers. In the most recent scenario an employee of PEAK was a mentor for a local High School student completing a senior project. This mentorship was designed to teach the student about the Satellite technology PEAK uses to provide underserved residents with High-Speed Internet service.

In this current tough financial time it’s easy to get caught up in other matters affecting your business or life. However, at PEAK we have a strong belief that strong communities foster strong businesses. Supporting non-profit organizations and volunteer-driven causes is a focal point of our local strategy and through economic downturns we continue to give back. We view it as just another aspect of providing quality service, not just to our customers, but also our community members.

Another way we try to differentiate our service at PEAK is to engage our customers on a local and personable level. Every time you call or step into the office it is our goal to listen to your needs and provide solutions, all while relating with you on a local level. We’ve been looking for ways to expand this principle to more customers, more often. What we found was two popular web sites, Facebook and Twitter, that are excellent ways for PEAK to enhance customer relationships and provide better service for our customers. So follow PEAK Internet on Twitter and become a fan of PEAK Internet on Facebook.

These two web sites provide PEAK with new tools to engage all our customers with a true two-way communication platform and a better way to share news broadcasts. Through Twitter we are hoping to relay up-to-date news and headlines that affect your service (phishing alerts, service issues). On Facebook we are excited to have the opportunity to interact with our customers and illustrate the different activities we are involved in that make PEAK a superior provider. This kind of relationship is valuable for PEAK and helps us provide the best real-time service possible. So follow, send, or interact with PEAK – now as an interactive online presence. Lastly this month, I wanted to inform you that the reseller partnership between Click Here! and PEAK Internet has been discontinued. Click Here!, a computer and technology store in Waldport, will continue to do business as usual, but without any formal partnership with PEAK. For your ongoing Internet support needs please direct your inquiries to our 24-hour support line at: 800.731.4871. For a personal touch, you can always stop into the Pioneer Telephone office located in Waldport to order or upgrade your service. I appreciate the partnership PEAK had with Click Here! over the years, we found the relationship to be very positive in our local marketplace.

Thanks to everyone for tuning in this month. I thank you for your ongoing
business and trust in PEAK!

Rick Petersen

PEAK adopts a soldier

PEAK has always been supportive of those serving in our country’s military forces. In the past we have participated in auctions or other charitable functions to provide needed support. This year we are taking it one step further by actually “adopting” our own soldier and his family. We’re excited for this opportunity to show how much we respect the work done by these soldiers and appreciate the sacrifice they are making by being at a distance from their families. If you would like to participate and offer any additional support, let me know!

PFC Sean Kenyon

2009 May President Letter

Conferences, expos, tradeshows and taxes – April proved to be a busy month for all of us at PEAK Internet. We had people traveling all over the country attending and speaking
at events, learning the best practices in our industry. Even locally PEAK had booths at the Lebanon Chamber Business Expo on April 21st and at the Corvallis Chamber’s, “Corbiz.” Our representatives at these events had good reports, citing a great amount of community participation.

Here. There. Available virtually anywhere!

PEAK’s wireless broadband services bring high-speed Internet to your home, where DSL and Cable can’t. Starting this month we’re offering some great deals to get you an upgrade from your dial-up connection. PEAK offers Fixed Wireless service in the mid-Willamette Valley and WildBlue Satellite throughout Oregon to bring broadband to your home. This promotion includes up to $100 off of a Fixed Wireless setup fee or a low upfront price of $99.95 for the Wildblue Satellite service. Give us a call for more details on these promotions.

We’ve been working hard to ensure that PEAK provides quality Fixed Wireless when you can’t get DSL or Cable. This has resulted in subsequent upgrades to many of our five tower sites, most recently at the Buck Mountain tower. Newly upgraded equipment at the Buck Mountain site has the capability to reach the areas around Coburg, Junction City, Halsey, and North of Eugene. The upgrade also brings increased bandwidth capacity and reliability for customers subscribing to services on this tower. Do you qualify? Give us a call, our customer service representatives are standing by.

If you are outside the PEAK Fixed Wireless and DSL network you still have options and now it’s even more affordable. WildBlue Satellite Internet service is available wherever you have a clear view of the Southern sky, and for a limited time we are offering this service with only a $99.95 upfront fee. Cost has always been a limiting factor with the WildBlue Satellite service and I hope this promotion removes barriers for those that really need affordable broadband where they live.

Bringing broadband to underserved communities has always been a top priority for PEAK Internet. Our local cooperative ownership (Pioneer Telephone, Consumers Power, Stayton Telephone) was founded as the need for electricity and telephone service became essential in the rural setting. That spirit for service has continued with PEAK, and is displayed in our efforts to bring broadband to underserved communities with Fixed Wireless and WildBlue Satellite.

This broadband gap in rural areas is now attracting some attention from our government. A portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Stimulus Package) was specifically allocated to bring broadband service to un-served and underserved areas of the U.S. In Oregon, the Governor has called on all Internet providers to submit plans to address this need. PEAK has been busy formulating plans and leveraging partnerships to most effectively expand our network and reach those that need broadband service.

What will make PEAK an effective provider for the underserved? Affiliations with the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative and our parent cooperatives provide PEAK with an understanding of the rural landscape that is unlike other providers. Also, partnerships with upstream bandwidth providers give PEAK the resources and relationships needed to get capacity where it is needed. Lastly, our demonstrated success in bringing Fixed Wireless and WildBlue Satellite to the rural setting gives credibility to our plan. I am confident PEAK will be able to identify and serve those that are underserved. We’ve been at the forefront of addressing this need for many years and our success to this point cannot be overlooked. We look forward to the opportunity to extend the reach of our broadband Internet to you in the near future.

Lastly, thanks to everyone that made the switch from paper billing to e-mail billing. PEAK made a $200 donation to the Arbor Day Foundation on your behalf that helped plant 500 trees.

The Arbor Day Foundation is dedicated to helping our environment by keeping a sustainable practice of planting trees in our local communities. If you would like to sign-up with e-mail billing, contact our customer service department and simplify your life with one less paper bill.

OTA Internet Security

Thank you for your interest in protecting yourself or your customers online.  If you would like to view today’s presentation please download the PowerPoint file below.  Feel free to present it to other just please make sure to provide credit to Peak Internet.

OTA Internet Security PowerPoint

Below I have included several links to various programs we have found to be generally useful or that can help protect you online.

Web Browsers

Firefox http://getfirefox.com

Google Chrome http://www.google.com/chrome

Password Manager

KeePassX http://www.keepassx.org

Anti-Virus

AVG http://avg.com

Avast! http://www.avast.com

TrendMicro http://us.trendmicro.com/us/home

Anti-Adware

AdAware http://www.lavasoft.com

Spybot S&D http://www.safer-networking.org

General Free Software

Ubuntu (Linux Distrobution) http://www.ubuntu.com/

FileHippo (Downloads of free software) http://filehippo.com

“Phishing” Avoid Getting Fried

You’ve probably heard about identity theft – when people steal personal information to use for illegal purposes.  It was once thought that this form of fraudulent activity was limited to lost credit cards or thieves obtaining old bank statements from the garbage.  However, this threat has evolved and is now an even greater danger in an e-mail (or instant messaging, social networking, etc.) scheme called “Phishing.”

In a Phishing scam, someone will attempt to deceive or fool you into submitting personal information by posing as a bank or other trusted organization.  The scammer will send an e-mail resembling a trusted organization’s common e-mail format and will most likely even use the logo of the company they are fraudulently posing as.  The e-mail message often has a message asking for some sort of account authorization or urgent payment needed.  Here are a few of the most common Phishing lines according to According to Microsoft:

• “Verify your account.”
  • A legitimate business will never ask for sensitive information such as passwords, login names, or social security numbers via email.
• “You have won the lottery.”
  • “Advanced fee” scams ask for bank information in advance to deposit the winnings on a contest that you supposedly just won.
• “If you don’t respond within 48 hours, your account will be closed.”
  • The urgent message approach asks that you respond immediately or one of your services will be disconnected. These types of campaigns also typically ask for login information.

(source: http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/phishing/identify.mspx)

Phishing been running rampant through the Internet and occurrences increase as we continue to use the Internet as an interface for our common daily services.  In December 2008 the Anti-Phishing Work Group (APWG – www.antiphishing.org) recorded over 15,000 unique phishing websites that were actively sending out e-mails soliciting information from users.  Gartner (see release) reported in 2007 that a total of 3.2 million people fell victim to phishing scams; the average dollar loss per Phishing victim was $886.

You’ve seen that Phishing is a credible threat and even the most credible organizations are susceptible to an imposter illegally soliciting information from customers.  Even at PEAK we have seen the effects this with several fraudulent e-mails being circulated over the past 12 months.  In general, be aware that a credible business would never ask for information they already should have within their customer database.  That is the best baseline rule for steering clear of any Phishing threat; here are a few other recommended items you can do to safeguard yourself from these threats:

• Don’t click on links within e-mails that ask for your personal information.
• Never enter personal information in a pop-up screen.
• Ensure that your computer Anti-Virus and Spam Filters are up-to-date.
• Only open e-mail attachments from trusted and known sources.
• Always look for a padlock icon and the address bar to start with “https://” in the browser window when typing sensitive information.
• Manually type the URL of secure web pages that you are accessing, do not follow links from e-mails.

(source: http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/phishing.htm)

Phishing Example

What happens if you accidently fall into a scam?  First, contact your banks and service providers that may have been affected, inform them of the breach and change your account access information.  Second, you can report your case to the Federal Trade Commission if you fear that identity theft may happen (FTC Identity Theft site).   The site will also have resources on limiting any damages that may occur.

The best way to avoid becoming a phishing scam victim is to use your best judgment. No organization with any sense will e-mail you and ask you to input all of your sensitive information.  Most credible organizations will constantly inform customers that “We will never ask you for your personal information in an email”.

These sites have good information on phishing and reporting phishing scams:

• Anti-Phishing Working Group
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – How Not to Get Hooked by a Phishing Scam
• Microsoft – Recognize phishing scams and fradulent e-mails

2009 April President Letter

Last month I had the opportunity to travel throughout our service territory – from the cascades to the coast (A little trivia here, our affiliate Casco is derived from CAScades and COast). The inherent beauty of our great state constantly amazes me and I’ve always been delighted to have the privilege to live in Oregon. What also stood out to me was how many locations in the state that PEAK has broadband services available and the people we serve in these areas.

Take for instance Deadwood, Oregon, where PEAK has served Ray and Kathleen Robinson with high-speed DSL service for the past 5 years. The Robinsons live on a particularly interesting estate and I would like to share with you their fascinating work and lifetime hobby.

Along with countless volunteers, the Robinsons constructed a fully functional mini-train and railroad system on their property in Deadwood. The railroad, Meadows and Lake Kathleen Railroad, was built over the course of 12 years and finally completed in 2007. I personally have experienced the Meadows and Lake Kathleen Railroad and it is not something I will soon  forget. I visited the railroad with my family several years ago and we were allowed to camp out at the site, taking train tours of the whole rail system. That trip was something that my family will treasure forever and I’m sure the Robinsons have created thousands of memories for families just like mine.

I am bringing this unique site to your attention because it is in danger of being removed by the state. Due to land use laws and regulations, the Robinsons may have to decommission their railroad. I invite you to visit their website at http://members.peak.org/~kmr3/ for the full story and to see what a spectacular site they have developed. I know firsthand that the Robinsons are excellent stewards of the land, taking every opportunity to improve the environment and habitat on their property. Removing this railroad would be a travesty to our community and injustice to the Robinsons. If you would like to help, please contact Ray from their website.

On a different topic, I’ve noticed an increase in the frequency of threatening Phishing Scams across the web and I wanted to ensure that you have the right information to steer clear of any threats. Recently, the New York Times reported that customer information from Comcast had been leaked and posted online. Reportedly, the list had the account information for over 8,000 customers before Comcast claimed that only 700 entries were valid. There remains speculation surrounding the cause of the incident, but it appears to be the result of an e-mail phishing scheme.

No matter how alarming it sounds, this kind of news is not uncommon. You have most likely received emails from scammers posing as your bank, a government agency, and even PEAK Internet. These messages generally ask for personal information via e-mail and ask for account authorization or to make an overdue payment. Responding to these solicitations puts you at risk for identity theft or other kinds of financial fraud. It is PEAK’s procedure to send out an immediate alert to customers once a scam such as this is detected. If you receive any messages similar to this, please report it to PEAK immediately.

I’ve asked our technical team to put together a blog post (http://blog.peakinternet.com) to further discuss the best ways for you to avoid falling into Phishing scams, but in the meantime please understand that no reputable business will ever ask for confidential information via email. A Red Flag complying business (like PEAK) will only accept that information in person.

We heard your call!
Now we’re moving forward, getting to work on all the different takeaways from the 2009 Customer Satisfaction survey. All the information we received was a great reflection on how PEAK needs to be a better Internet provider for 2009 and beyond. A few of our key understandings moving forward are to implement a better e-mail platform, provide online bill payment options, and to continue training for our technical support staff. We’ll also strive to provide better communication and explore different value-added products to offer to our customers. Remember to keep sending feedback our way! If you ever have comments please don’t hesitate to e-mail, call, or stop in the office.

Congratulations to Ken Vogler and Gary Custer. They both won the ClickFree Back-up hard drives. Also a big congratulations goes to Rise Briggs, who won a new iPod Shuffle. Again, we appreciate your participation in this survey and look forward to serving our customers for years to come.

Big news for all you NASCAR fans — DIRECTV announced this month that the NASCAR Hot Pass would be free to all customers in 2009. So if you are interested in NASCAR and were looking for one more reason to try DIRECTV, this is your chance. The NASCAR Hot Pass from DirecTV offers exclusive coverage of your favorite drivers and loads of extra features that make your racing experience truly unique. This is a great value from DIRECTV and I want to offer something from PEAK to make it an even better deal. If you sign up for DIRECTV this month, you’ll receive a month of your Internet service free from PEAK. We’re so confident you’ll enjoy DIRECTV; I’m willing to put a month of free service on the line.

Thanks for tuning in, have a happy Easter!

Rick Petersen