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At $249.99 for a three-pack, the TP-Link Deco XE75 Pro Tri-Band Mesh System is sitting $150 below its usual $399.99 price, and price-trackers show this is the lowest it has gone so far. That discount matters because this is not an entry-level mesh kit. It’s built around Wi-Fi 6E, which adds access to the cleaner 6GHz band alongside the familiar 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. In practice, that means less congestion if you have newer devices that support 6E, and more consistent speeds across a larger home. The three cylindrical nodes are understated and easy to place, each covering a chunk of space so the full kit can handle homes up to roughly 7,200 square feet. Setup happens through the Deco app and is largely painless, even if you are not used to managing network gear.

Each node includes a 2.5GbE WAN port, which is useful if your internet plan is already pushing past standard gigabit speeds. You also get two additional 1GbE LAN ports per node, plus support for wired backhaul if you want to connect the units with Ethernet instead of relying on wireless links. Internally, TP-Link uses a 1.7GHz quad-core processor and multiple internal antennas to keep traffic moving smoothly. What you do not get are USB ports, so there’s no option to plug in a drive or printer directly. That omission may not matter for most people, but it is worth noting at this price.

As for its performance, PCMag’s testing showed reliable throughput across bands, and the publication gave the system an “excellent” rating in its review, calling it easy to manage and a solid value for large spaces. Management leans heavily on the mobile app, which is simpler than the web interface and good enough for everyday use. TP-Link includes its HomeShield tools for basic parental controls and security scanning, but some of the more detailed features sit behind a paid subscription. That may be a drawback if you want everything included upfront. Still, for homes with many devices, fast internet, and a need for wide coverage, this deal makes the Deco XE75 Pro a much more reasonable buy than it is at full price.

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The launch of the Google TV Streamer marked a significant shift for the company's streaming lineup, moving away from the behind-the-TV Chromecast dongles it popularized and introducing a pill-shaped set-top box that blends in nicely on a shelf of tchotchkes. It's hiding a worthy processor, double the memory you'd get from a streaming stick, and enough storage to download what you need to run all of your apps. It even acts as a smart hub, with Matter and Thread built in.

It's taken me a long time to do anything with the Google TV Streamer. I reluctantly brought it into my home after realizing something more robust, but dated, like the Nvidia Shield, would be too much to manage alongside maintaining a home server. But since then, I've tweaked several things on the set-top box and enabled features I hadn't been using, turning it into a helpful hub in my living room.

Enable "Find my remote" to never lose your Google TV Streamer remote again

This sounds like an obvious tip, but I've had the Google TV Streamer since it debuted in 2024, and it wasn't until this week, while writing this piece, that I finally enabled the remote finder. I had skipped it during the initial setup. The option is available in Settings > Remotes & Accessories. You'll see the Find my remote option in there.

a screenshot showing the find my remote option in the settings panel
Credit: Florence Ion/Lifehacker

The Google TV Streamer has a physical button on the back of the device that lets you locate your remote if it's stuck somewhere on the couch. But what if you can't reach the streamer behind the TV? Try one of your Google-enabled voice devices instead. If you have a Nest speaker or a Pixel phone nearby, say "Hey Google, find my remote." The remote should start chirping if you've set it up.

Set up the Google TV Streamer remote shortcut

The remotes that come with the Google TV Streamer feature a tiny, unregistered button with a star icon right next to the power button. By default, this shortcut does nothing! But you can change that in the device's system preferences.

a screenshot showing the three options available
Credit: Florence Ion/Lifehacker

In Settings > Remotes & Accessories > Set up remote buttons, select one of three options for customizing the shortcut button. I set it up as my Google Home shortcut so I can easily turn the lights on and off from the couch. You can also set it up as a launcher for another app installed on the set-top box. Or create a shortcut to cycle through device inputs—this button is on legacy Chromecast devices with an included remote. It was removed from this generation of streaming devices, so if you miss it, you can spoof it back.

For serious power users, map the shortcut to an app like Projectivity Launcher to make it a more powerful launcher button.

Remap other buttons on your Google TV Streamer remote to be more useful

a screenshot of a button mapper app
What Button Mapper looks like running on Google TV. Credit: Florence Ion/Lifehacker

Don't care for the default YouTube or Netflix buttons included on the Google TV Streamer remote? You can remap them with a third-party app, then affix a small sticker to indicate what it does. Install an app like Button Mapper or tvQuickActions. Then go to Google TV Settings > System > Accessibility, and turn on the service. After that, you can head back into the app to adjust what those physical buttons do. You can set them as shortcuts to other apps, or even something cheekier for others to discover when they press the button.

Remove the clutter from the Google TV Streamer home screen

a screenshot showing where the option is
Credit: Florence Ion/Lifehacker

Can't stand all the recommendations and sponsored content Google TV suggests in the main carousel? You can effectively shut off some of the clutter so it doesn't visually overwhelm you. Go to Settings > Accounts & Sign-In > Your Account. and toggle on Apps only mode.

This clears the clutter and "sponsored" content, leaving you with just app icons. Keep in mind that this turns off the "Watchlist" feature that's tied to your account and some Gemini voice search capabilities for specific content.

Enable Google TV Streamer "Developer options" for more customization

a screenshot showing the developer options toggle
Credit: Florence Ion/Lifehacker

You'll need to enable developer options to enable features like faster animations and side-loading apps. It's easy to set up, and it's just like on an Android smartphone. Head into Settings > System > About, then tap Android TV OS Build 7 times.

You'll see a little dialog pop up to let you know you've got developer access. Once enabled, a new menu will appear under Settings > System > Developer options.

Limit animations to make navigation faster

The Google TV interface is organized and functional, but its animations can slow down menu navigation. You can eliminate these animations and tweak other visual elements to speed things up deep within the developer settings.

A screenshot of the Animator duraction scale setting
Credit: Florence Ion/Lifehacker

In Developer Options, scroll down to Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator duration scale. Change one of these, or all three, from 1x to Animation off to turn off animations completely. You can also go the other way and effectively "overclock" the animations to speed them up, making them appear smoother.

Side-load apps or an alternative launcher

With developer options turned on, you can enable USB and wireless debugging to use apps like Send Files to TV and atvTools to sideload APKs. But first, enable the "Allow installs from unknown sources" option in the Developer Options under Security settings. This allows APKs you've transferred over to the device to run on the streamer.

Why would you want to go through the fuss of connecting to the Google TV Streamer this way? Because then you could access alternative streaming apps not available in the Play Store, or even an alternative launcher, like LeanbackLauncher.

Pair headphones to your Google TV Streamer for private listening

a screenshot of the Bluetooth audio menu on Google TV
Credit: Florence Ion/Lifehacker

This is one of my favorite little hacks that comes especially in handy when living in a house occupied by other people. When I do my workouts in the living room, I use a set of Bluetooth earbuds connected to the Google TV Streamer so I can hear the instructor's directions even when I'm face down in a plank and my kid is screaming in the background.

The ability is available in the same submenu where you set up your remote. In Settings > Remote & Accessories > Pair Remote/Accessory, put your audio device into Bluetooth pairing mode, then watch it come up on the screen as an option. If you're successful, you can now pop on the buds when you need to. Be aware that audio latency can occur, and you might need to restart the connection—it is Bluetooth, after all.  

Force your Google TV Streamer to choose the best resolution, regardless of bandwidth

If you don't care about your bandwidth and want full-resolution streaming at all times, you can set the best resolution to display as the default in your Google TV Streamer preferences. Go to Settings > Display & Sound > Resolution. Switch the Resolution from "Automatic" to 4K 60Hz, or whatever your TV's peak is. Once this is enabled, the Google TV Streamer won't downscale to 1080p. If you're a sucker for HDR, this is the same menu where you can turn it on so that it's always in high definition.

Use the USB-C port to add accessories and turn your Google TV Streamer into an all-in-one media center

The USB-C port can do more than charge up the Google TV Streamer. You can plug in a power delivery hub with extra ports to add components like external storage and effectively run your own all-in-one home media center. Those power delivery hubs usually include extra USB ports for peripherals, so you can hook up things like keyboards and game controllers for extra fun.


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Big changes have come to social media platform TikTok. On Jan. 22, TikTok's operations were passed from Chinese company ByteDance to TikTok USDS Joint Venture, a new entity backed by Larry Ellison's Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and United Arab Emirates-based investment firm MGX.

Days later, on Jan. 23, TikTok introduced new Terms of Service for users. So far, the transition has not been smooth. Users immediately raised privacy concerns over the new TOS, taking to X with posts like this:

Changes to TikTok's privacy policy

While TikTok's new terms sound draconian, they aren't vastly different from TikTok's old TOS (which were draconian). The main change covers AI. The company added a new section to its TOS saying it will collect information from "AI interactions, including prompts, questions, files, and other types of information that you submit to our AI-powered interfaces, as well as the responses they generate," so don't think the conversation you have will stay between you and the chatbot.

TikTok also says it will collect "precise location data," unless users opt out. This will let the service collect user's exact coordinates instead of a general city or region, that the company will use to serve "customized ads and other sponsored content."

Another tweak: TikTok now promises it will act in accordance with "applicable law, such as for permitted purposes under the California Consumer Privacy Act," instead of the more general "applicable state privacy laws" in the old terms.

Other than that, the terms remain largely the same as they were before. TikTok says it collects data that is user-provided, inferred, or contextual, that includes location data, age, email, phone numbers, chat messages, metadata on anything you upload, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual life or sexual orientation, immigration status, and more. Then it uses that data to advertise to you, to "infer additional information about you," train its algorithm, and basically anything else it's legally allowed to use it for.

Opting out of TikTok's data collection

TikTok screenshot
Credit: Stephen Johnson

If you'd prefer that TikTok collect less of your personal data, you can go to the settings and privacy page in the app and opt out of "Targeted ads outside of TikTok," "Using Off-TikTok activity for ad targeting," turn off location tracking, stop contact syncing, and make other changes. You can also go to your phone’s Settings page, select TikTok, and change its permissions to track your location. Here's a deeper dive into how and why to change TikTok's privacy settings.

Accusations of TikTok censorship

Along with promising to delete the app over data-collection worries, many TikTokers are alleging that the platform is censoring or throttling posts based on politics, particularly videos related to the shooting of Alex Pretti. On the #TikTokCensorship hashtag on X, users report that the Democratic Party's TikTok videos have gone from millions of views to zero views and that the platform is censoring videos about Jeffrey Epstein as well as other subjects.

It's too early to tell whether these reports are a result in changes in TikTok's algorithm or the result of a technical glitch. TikTok released a statement blaming videos with zero views and other performance issues on a "cascading system failure" caused by a power outage:

TikTok's new management vowed last month to retrain the platform's recommendation algorithm "on US user data to ensure the content feed is free from outside manipulation." What being free of "outside manipulation" looks like in a practical sense has yet to be seen.


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Stellar Cyber announced updates in version 6.3 that advance its goal of an autonomous SOC. Powered by agentic AI, the release helps security teams reduce alert volume and improve response by automating threat detection, investigation, triage, and response across identity, network, endpoint, email, and cloud environments.

With 6.3, Stellar Cyber delivers measurable customer value by reducing analyst workload, shortening mean time to respond (MTTR), and unifying security operations through deeper automation, smarter context, and expanded integrations.

Stellar Cyber continues to strengthen its Autonomous SOC vision by expanding agent-driven automation across the platform. With Model Context Protocol (MCP) available in version 6.3, organizations can integrate third-party agents and bots more seamlessly, enabling new SecOps use cases such as tighter ticketing system integrations and automated workflows.

Security teams are overwhelmed by fragmented tools and endless alerts. Stellar Cyber 6.3 addresses this challenge with expanded Autonomous SOC capabilities that act like a seasoned SOC analyst, automatically analyzing signals, prioritizing risk, and explaining what matters.

Capabilities and enhancements included as part of early access program:

  • AI-generated case summaries that automatically explain what happened, why it matters, and what evidence supports the conclusion, reducing investigation time.
  • Advanced automated email phishing triage, providing earlier and deeper diagnosis to stop phishing attacks before they escalate.

Together, these capabilities help customers resolve incidents faster with fewer resources, improving SOC efficiency without sacrificing accuracy.

“With agentic AI at the core of our platform, we’re transforming raw telemetry into clear decisions and automated actions—so security teams can move at machine speed without losing human trust,” said Aimei Wei, Chief Technology Officer at Stellar Cyber.

New usability enhancements reduce friction and speed collaboration:

  • Query Manager import/export enables teams and MSSPs to share and reuse proven detection logic.
  • A streamlined Watchlist workflow allows analysts to take action directly from investigations, minimizing context switching.

These improvements help SOC teams resolve incidents faster and scale best practices across teams and tenants.

Unified identity and network security for real-world attacks

Stellar Cyber 6.3 strengthens Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) and Network Detection and Response (NDR) by correlating identity, network, and endpoint signals into a single operational view.

Key enhancements include enriched login anomaly detections with ASN and user-agent context, plus new support for Netskope CloudTap, enabling decrypted traffic analysis and user identity enrichment. Customers can detect suspicious behavior earlier and respond with targeted actions that bridge ITDR and NDR use cases.

Expanded Unified Threat Management (UTM) support further enhances network visibility, allowing customers to leverage existing firewall and UTM telemetry as high-value data sources within Stellar Cyber’s Open XDR platform.

Version 6.3 introduces enhancements to XDR Connect Webhooks for easier third-party alert ingestion and a new Domain Service that improves connector scalability and reliability.

Many new alert and connector integrations, including Wiz, SonicWall Endpoint, Fortinent FortiManager, Halcyon, BitDefender, Cisco Duo Trust Monitor, iManage Threat Manager, etc., expand Stellar Cyber’s ability to ingest and correlate data across endpoint, cloud, ransomware protection, digital risk, and asset intelligence platforms. The result: faster deployments, broader visibility, and higher detection fidelity without rip-and-replace.

“Every enhancement in 6.3 is designed to help security teams detect faster, investigate smarter, and respond with confidence, all from a single platform that unifies SecOps instead of fragmenting it,” said Subo Guha, Senior Vice President Product at Stellar Cyber.


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Firewalla announced a new approach to modernizing large, flat home networks, helping users improve security, scalability, and performance without the pain of IP renumbering or reconfiguring dozens of devices. Using zero trust network architecture and microsegmentation powered by Firewalla AP7 and Firewalla Orange, homeowners can transform outdated Wi-Fi setups into segmented, future-ready networks in minutes.

Firewalla AP7

Most home networks grow “flat” over time as new IoT devices, phones, laptops, and smart appliances are added. In flat networks, every device can see every other device, legacy Wi-Fi encryption remains in use, and newer technologies such as WPA3 and Wi-Fi 7 are difficult or impossible to deploy. The result is increased security risk, limited performance, and growing management headaches.

Firewalla’s new guidance demonstrates how users can remodel these networks by dividing them into smaller, purpose-built segments while keeping all devices on the same Layer 3 IP network. This approach preserves existing IP addresses, avoids compatibility issues with IoT devices, and eliminates the need for complex SSDP or mDNS relays.

With Firewalla Wi-Fi, users can reuse their existing SSID and password during migration. Legacy IoT devices reconnect automatically, eliminating the need to manually update Wi-Fi credentials device by device. Once connected, Firewalla’s VqLAN microsegmentation and device isolation features immediately limit lateral traffic and reduce attack surfaces.

Users can define network segments based on device type, security capability, or household role, applying tailored policies such as Wi-Fi encryption standards, device isolation, and trusted NTP interception.

Firewalla enables multiple segmentation strategies, including:

  • Legacy IoT devices: Keep older devices on WPA/WPA2 using the existing SSID, while isolating them through microsegmentation and device isolation.
  • Newer IoT devices: Create new SSIDs with WPA2/WPA3 for devices that support stronger encryption.
  • Advanced IoT Grouping: Further segment cameras, sensors, and smart lights by device type using multiple SSIDs or personal keys.
  • Personal devices: Isolate phones, laptops, and tablets from IoT devices using Mixed Personal Security, enabling WPA3 and 6 GHz support where available.
  • User-based segmentation: Assign devices to individuals using Firewalla Users, personal keys, or WPA3 Enterprise for the highest level of security and performance.

For users handling sensitive data or requiring Wi-Fi 7 and 6 GHz performance, Firewalla also supports WPA3 Enterprise, providing user-based authentication and strong encryption under a single SSID.

“Segmentation doesn’t have to mean complexity,” said Firewalla Co-founder Jerry Chen. “With Firewalla AP7 and Firewalla Orange, users can secure and modernize their networks incrementally, without breaking existing devices or redesigning their entire IP layout.”


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Brakeman is an open-source security scanner used by teams that build applications with Ruby on Rails. The tool focuses on application code and configuration, giving developers and security teams a way to identify common classes of web application risk during development and testing.

Brakeman scanner

Brakeman analyzes application source code directly, including controllers, models, views, and templates. The scanner builds an internal representation of how data moves through the application, which allows it to flag patterns associated with security issues.

This approach avoids running the application or sending test traffic. Teams can point Brakeman at a code repository and receive results based on static inspection of the codebase.

Types of issues Brakeman identifies

Brakeman checks for a range of application security problems that commonly appear in Rails projects. These include injection flaws, cross-site scripting risks, unsafe redirects, and authentication or authorization weaknesses. The scanner also evaluates configuration settings that influence application behavior.

Each finding includes a description of the issue, the affected file and line number, and a confidence level. This structure helps teams prioritize work without requiring deep security expertise for every warning.

Dependency and framework awareness

In addition to application code, Brakeman reviews the versions of Rails and supporting gems used in a project. When a version maps to a known security advisory, the scanner reports it as part of the results. This gives teams visibility into risks that originate outside their own code.

The scanner updates its rules over time to reflect changes in the Rails framework and common development patterns. This keeps findings aligned with how Rails applications are built and maintained.

Using Brakeman in daily workflows

Many developers run Brakeman locally as part of routine development. The tool can also run in automated environments, including CI systems that scan code on commits or pull requests. This allows teams to surface security issues early in the development process.

Brakeman supports multiple output formats, including human-readable reports and machine-readable data. These options make it possible to share results with developers, security teams, or tracking systems without additional tooling.

Managing findings over time

Brakeman allows teams to manage warnings through configuration files. Specific findings can be marked as ignored with a documented reason. This creates a record that persists across scans and helps teams distinguish between accepted risk and unresolved issues.

The scanner also supports comparing results between runs. This helps teams focus on new warnings introduced by recent code changes, which reduces noise in large or long-lived projects.

Brakeman is available for free on GitHub.

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Amazon Web Services has published an updated Payment Card Industry Personal Identification Number (PCI PIN) compliance package for its AWS Payment Cryptography service, confirming a recent third-party audit of the platform. The report package is now accessible through AWS’s compliance portal.

AWS PCI PIN compliance

Two PCI PIN compliance reports included

The update includes two primary deliverables. The first is a PCI PIN Attestation of Compliance (AOC) showing that a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) validated AWS Payment Cryptography against the PCI PIN security standard with zero findings. The second is a PCI PIN Responsibility Summary that offers guidance on customer obligations for operating systems that handle PIN-based transactions.

AWS said the audit was conducted by Coalfire, an independent assessor recognized by the PCI Security Standards Council.

Background on AWS Payment Cryptography

AWS Payment Cryptography is a managed cloud service designed to handle payment-related cryptographic operations and key management that align with established payment industry standards. These standards include PCI PIN, PCI Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE), and the broader PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

The service uses hardware security modules (HSMs) certified to Payment Card Industry PIN Transaction Security (PTS) HSM requirements, and it is intended to support use cases such as card issuance, transaction processing, and PIN validation in cloud-native environments.

Organizations that run payment applications on AWS often confront rigorous compliance demands. Industry standards like PCI PIN define controls for the management, processing, and transmission of personal identification numbers and cryptographic keys. Qualified PIN Assessors evaluate adherence to these standards in environments that handle PIN data.


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