Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Frequent Logins: Security Theater or Real Protection?

2025-06-12

This article challenges the common belief that frequent logins enhance security. The author argues that constant re-authentication is not only frustrating but also leads to poor security practices like password reuse. True security, the article contends, lies in real-time monitoring and access management, utilizing techniques like device posture checks and SCIM-based access control to update security attributes and policies without constant user interaction. The author uses Tailscale as an example of how to achieve better security with minimal user friction.

(tailscale.com)

Tech

Tailscale Unveils Grants: Next-Gen Access Controls

2025-06-01

Tailscale announces the general availability of Grants, its next-generation access control system. Grants unify network and application permissions into a single, simpler syntax, improving upon the existing ACLs. It simplifies policy writing, adds features like embedding Tailscale directly into applications via the tsnet library for identity-based authorization and custom application capabilities, and introduces a `via` field for granular traffic routing. Crucially, Tailscale will continue supporting the older ACL syntax indefinitely, allowing for incremental migration.

(tailscale.com)

Development

Tailscale 4via6: Revolutionizing Edge Device Connectivity

2025-05-12

Deploying software or hardware to the edge often faces connectivity challenges: NAT, restrictive network policies, fixed CIDR ranges, and unknowns. Tailscale's 4via6 subnet routing solves this by enabling seamless connections between numerous networks (e.g., robots, sensor networks) without managing IPs, CIDRs, or ports. Each network gets a unique identifier, devices are named using MagicDNS, simplifying management and granting secure remote access even for complex customer networks. Ideal for connecting autonomous robots, linking VPCs across clouds, or using the same IP range for testing and production.

(tailscale.com)

Tech Edge Networking

Tailscale Secures $160M Series C to Revolutionize Networking with Identity-First Approach

2025-04-08

Tailscale, a networking company focused on simplifying connectivity, announced a $160 million Series C funding round led by Accel, with participation from CRV, Insight Partners, and others. This funding will accelerate their 'identity-first networking' strategy, prioritizing identity over IP addresses for secure connections. Already adopted by numerous AI companies (like Perplexity, Mistral) and large enterprises (like Instacart, SAP) to solve complex networking challenges, Tailscale will use the investment to expand its engineering and product teams and further enhance its free support and backward compatibility promises.

(tailscale.com)

Tech identity-first networking

Tailscale on Plan 9: An April Fool's Prank That Actually Worked

2025-04-02

Tailscale's April Fool's Day announcement wasn't a joke: they actually ported Tailscale to the Plan 9 operating system. The journey was fraught with challenges, including outdated Go compiler support for Plan 9, kernel issues, and inter-process communication bugs. The team even fixed a decades-old bug in the Plan 9 kernel. The project, initially a naive undertaking, evolved into a significant effort, culminating in a working demo running Tailscale on Plan 9, even showcased on a web browser. This wasn't just a prank; it was a testament to the team's technical prowess and a fascinating exploration of a niche OS.

(tailscale.com)

Development

Tailscale's NAT Traversal: A Deep Dive

2025-01-05

This Tailscale blog post details how their VPN overcomes the challenges of NAT (Network Address Translation) to enable direct device-to-device connections. It explains NAT's workings and various techniques to handle NAT and firewalls, including STUN for discovering public IPs, the birthday paradox for faster port probing, and DERP as a fallback relay. Finally, it introduces the ICE protocol, which automatically tries various methods, selecting the best connection to ensure reliable connectivity.

(tailscale.com)

Development

Tailscale Subnet Routers: A Simple Solution for Complex Network Connections

2024-12-14

Tailscale typically requires installing a client on every device, but this isn't always feasible for embedded devices or existing VPCs. That's where subnet routers come in. They enable devices to communicate using Tailscale's powerful NAT traversal technology, regardless of whether they're running Tailscale. This article explains how Tailscale subnet routers work, including installation and configuration on Windows and Linux. For large network migrations or connecting AWS VPCs, subnet routers offer a fast and easy way to get started. Personal use is free and doesn't count against device limits.

(tailscale.com)

Development Subnet Router NAT Traversal