Blog & Tools

Ransomware has become the single largest cybersecurity threat facing most businesses, and risks continue to rise. Other forms of malware remain significant threats, especially to small businesses. But other malware appears to have hit a wall, at least temporarily, in terms of growth, according to national security experts.

Every parent experiences moments where pride and fear can collide. I felt one of those potentially explosive moments at Sen. John Thune’s packed event at Dakota State University last week. When the senator opened for student questions, I looked back and saw my son, Michael, at the microphone.

Jamie Arens and her staff take pride in the first-year achievements of the Avera Cancer Institute Navigation Center. During its first year of operation, the center addressed 511 barriers to health care.

Caitlin Uthe credits her internship at SDN Communications for helping prepare her for a full-time job in the telecommunications industry.

Four more SDN Communications employees have earned a the Metro Ethernet Forum's Carrier Ethernet Professional Certification. That brings the number of certified engineers at SDN to 12 - the most of any broadband provider in the Sioux Falls area.

Craig Teveldal didn’t think he could afford to promote his business with TV advertising. Then he became familiar with ICAN Advertising and realized his assumption was wrong.

Jodi Schwan uncovers the biggest business news in Sioux Falls. She covers it prolifically, from bar openings to multi-million dollar deals, and she delivers the news first, accurately and without sensation.

During the past several years, SDN Communications has really built up its internship program for college students. Sioux Falls-based SDN’s internship program is more than a good corporate deed. It helps the company attract and groom good future employees.

Trends in phone use are striking and underscore the need for improvements to relieve the region’s increasingly strained telecommunications infrastructure.

The most difficult barriers that confront people with disabilities are attitudinal, Vicki Kerkvliet says. Some people with disabilities are wrongly considered second-class citizens rather than recognized for their abilities.

Encouraging news for businesses: slightly more than half of all Distributed Denial of Service attacks are gamers attacking other gamers to get a competitive edge. The more troubling reality: the overall number of DDoS attacks on computing systems is rising, and attacks are getting larger and more frequent.

Our infographic of the month explains how small cell poles fit into the cellular phone network as the future of moving data.

The underlying message of the ads is especially refreshing and increasingly accurate: IT pros are heroes in the workplace, not nerds who operate invisibly in back rooms. IT pros have enormous responsibilities, and their jobs keep getting bigger.

2017 will be a big year for small cell poles in and near South Dakota. Jerry P. Andersen and his crew at Sioux Falls-based SDN Communications are overseeing the construction and underground cabling of 50 small cell poles to improve wireless services in the region, and plans are being made to install additional poles.

Computer users who are lax about online security apparently were feeling romantic in 2016. A few affectionate words crept into SplashData’s annual list of bad passwords.

As a business intelligence specialist at SDN Communications, Theron McChesney looks for ways to put research to good use. His objective is to produce good market and product research to help improve SDN’s business processes and to enhance the customer experience.

Gary Glissendorf played a key role in the development and launch of SDN’s Managed DDoS Protection Service, which helps clients ward off Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks that can clog or damage systems.

Persistent telephone call completion problems in rural states are creating major inconveniences for families, hurting businesses, and threatening public safety, but a bill introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and cosponsored by Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota) could fix the problem.

Jake VanDewater is among the experts at SDN Communications who spend their work days making sure the Sioux Falls-based company’s business and organization clients have access to effective cybersecurity services.

When you think about someone planning an electronic attack on a computer network, you probably envision foreign terrorists, domestic criminals or maybe unethical business or political rivals. You probably don’t think about high school students who want to get out of a test or amuse themselves with mischief.