[BALUG-Admin] Comcast Business & SecurityEdge

[Michael Paoli]

Rick,

May want to consider change in Comcast Business account type ...
most notably, if feasible, to get entirely away from the fsckery of
the (mis)feature of SecurityEdge.
I've got Comcast Business, and SecurityEdge appears absolutely nowhere
on my account nor is it even any kind of option or configuration or the like
... unless of course I were to change account type - which of course I
certainly don't want to do if it throws the SecurityEdge (mis)feature at me.

Anway, account type - if that might be useful and if Comcast Business
still offers it as a type one can switch to ... let's see, on my account, it
shows as ...
-----
We noticed your network isn’t being protected from cyberthreats with
SecurityEdge™. Help protect all connected devices on your business’s
network with this simple solution.
Get A Preview
Invisible
My Plan
Starter Internet
35 Mbps / 5 Mbps
-----
That shows (after login) at URL:
https://business.comcast.com/connectivity/internetdashboard/
And fsck no, I'm not clicking that thingy that mentions SecurityEdge™.
Anyway, at least when I signed up, that was the lowest cable speed they offered
(more than fast enough for my needs, and way faster than the DSL I earlier had)
while otherwise satisfying my requirements (some static IPv4s, able to
host servers,
unblocked outbound access to TCP port 25 on The Internet, etc.).
And, I believe one can also have same account/package type, and merely
upgrade in speed, without changing account type, if that might be
desired/relevant
(e.g. to match whatever current speed options you have).

Anyway, might well be worth considering, if feasible, and it makes at least
the SecurityEdge™ headaches go away and stay away.
So, yeah, may want to "downgrade" at least certain portion(s)
that someone else on account earlier "upgraded" <cough, cough> to.
Why pay extra for those added unwanted (dis-)services?

On Tue, Jun 4, 2024 at 3:31 PM Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> wrote:
>
> Quoting Al (awbalug@sunnyside.com):
>
> > A quick note on SecurityEdgeTM.  I did not, on my site, go to the
> > settings for SecurityEdgeTM - instead I stayed on the main
> > business.comcast.com page and disabled the entire product.  I
> > suspect that is more effective, but I admit I'm not reading your
> > posts as thoroughly as I should.
> > Specifically, I go to page
> > "https://business.comcast.com/connectivity/internetdashboard/?index"
> > (when logged in) and in the lower left, there's a gear symbol next
> > to the status of SecurityEdge, and clicking on that gives me a
> > pop-up side panel where I can disable the entire product.
>
> When I start (logged in) at
> https://business.comcast.com/connectivity/internetdashboard/?index and
> scroll to the lower left, I see under header CYBERSECURITY this sort of
> stuff
>
>   CB SecurityEdgeTM
>
>     STATUS
>     o  Disabled        [gear icon]
>
> (I believe this reflects my previous attempts to disable SecurityEdge,
> which disabled _most_ of it, allegedly.)
>
>
> Clicking on the gear icon, I see a pop-up side panel (flush-right),
> with:
>
>   SecurityEdgeTM
>
>   Help protect connected devices againt malware, randomware, phishing,
>   and botnet attacks.
>
>   STATUS
>   Disabled
>
>
> That having been said, if I follow a "VISIT SECURITYEDGE" link
> (there are various ways to get there), and end up at
> https://securityedge.comcast.com/#home , what I see is
>
>    Web Filters:  OFF [slide control]
>
> Under Settings tab, I see section "Web Filters" where I elected "None"
> as opposed to the default setting "Light", below that section "Content
> Restriction Schedule" slide control set to OFF, below that section
> Internet Off where slide control Off-Hourse Internet Schedule is set to
> OFF, below that section Internet Security where slide control "Malware
> and Phishing Protection" is set to ON and greyed out so this control
> cannot be toggled by the customer.
>
> Below that, section Search Protection has three checkbox items of
> "search filter" items that can be enabled, none of which is enabled.
>
>
> My understanding is that I'd already (a couple of days ago, after seeing
> the tip from your good self about SecurityEdge no longer being optional
> for Comcast Business accounts, turned off all of SecurityEdge that I'm
> allowed to turn off.
>
> That sound correct?
>
>
> > I also did try this command:
> > dig -p 5353 @96.86.170.229 balug.org
> > and had no trouble at all with it.
>
> Yes, that's going to at least _one_ item I'm going to demand that
> Comcast Busienss cease breaking.  It occurs to me, in that regard,
> that I need to be able to prove that this command _should_ work.
> Fortunately, I can also ssh into your sunnyside.com host, and
> cross-check there.  So, thank you for confirming that I can use that.
>
>
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