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“We’re part of the community. What the Sioux Falls Public Schools do is educate the next generation of the community,” says Vernon Brown, vice president of marketing and community relations at SDN. “We feel a strong obligation to assist with that. Tax dollars don’t cover all the needs.”

There’s a cautionary side to the expanding, positive uses of technology that should remain in public awareness, too, of course. Among the risks are an increasing array of weapons and hacking strategies that endanger computer networks.

Along with the proliferation of IoT devices comes new scams. Gartner warns that by 2020, there will be a billion-dollar black market selling fake sensors and video data to enable criminal activity.

Bill Burr has been widely described as being the father of the modern-day password. Lately, he’s also become a prominent second-guesser. Now, he says, long phrases that people can actually remember might be a better option.

DDoS attacks are incidents in which in which perpetrators unleash large volumes of malicious traffic to disrupt and maybe temporarily disable a targeted computer network or program. Ninety-five percent of service providers who responded to an annual survey experienced attacks last year, according to Arbor Networks’ Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report for 2016.

Business computer networks typically start small and grow. And then they grow some more. As networks expand, they become increasingly susceptible to malware and hackers, and they need better protection.

“Fishkabobs,” a creation of sculptor Robert Bruce of Sioux Falls, is quirky and fun. It’s one of 56 sculptures on display in the downtown area this summer as part of the 2017 SculptureWalk Sioux Falls program.

By almost any measurement, cyberattacks on the nation’s critical infrastructure are on the rise. That’s increasing the need for the private and public sectors to work together on cybersecurity at the state as well as national level.

With jobs openings relatively plentiful in the Sioux Falls area, finding good workers can be challenging, especially for companies in specialized areas such as telecommunications. A good internship program has helped expose SDN to promising students, several of whom have landed internships and been groomed into good, full-time employees.

More so than many industries, the history of telecommunications has been filled with game-changing developments. Consider all that’s happened in just the last couple of generations. The next is on the way: the fifth generation wireless technology commonly referred to as 5G.

Minnesota has taken an aggressive grant approach in funding hard-to-reach rural areas for broadband connectivity, and it hasn’t been afraid to reach across state lines for providers to improve Internet access.

Colle Nash is a business leader with a unique vantage point. As the general manager of West River Cooperative Telephone Company and Grand Electric Cooperative, he's also one of the newest members of the SDN Communications’ nine-member Board of Managers.

For some businesses, a temporary stop in internet service might not be a big deal. However, for others maintaining a good internet connectivity might be extremely important. Businesses in the Sioux Falls region can reduce the likelihood of losing connectivity by having two, separately based and maintained connections to the internet.

SDN Communications’ sales representatives often talk to business clients about their companies’ cybersecurity needs. When the discussion turns to the technical aspects of cyber risks and the products and services to combat them, the sales rep is likely to call Bill Tetrault or Mike Klein into the conversation.

The new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Ajit Pai recently made a multistate tour of rural America which included a few stops in South Dakota.

New switching equipment being phased into use at SDN Communications will significantly enhance the quality and flexibility of telecommunications services that member companies in the region and national carriers can provide their clients.

SDN Communications detected more than 540 DDoS attacks – an average of six per day - on clients’ networks during the first quarter of 2017. The average attack size was 1.27 gigabits per second, which is potentially enough to temporarily take down most online services.

The expanded SDN network can tie deals together with a minimum of nonaffiliated facilities in the southern Minnesota market, which reduces possible points of failure in network transmissions.

The development of a robust, wireless broadband network for America’s first responders is expected to reach a significant milestone in June. The First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet, is developing the first high-speed, nationwide, broadband network dedicated to public safety.

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.