CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS

As part of SD1's ongoing cybersecurity improvements, IT will be initiating cybersecurity awareness campaigns along with ongoing end-user training.

SD1 has engaged a company that specializes in end-user cybersecurity training that includes sending out staged messages and then evaluating the results (such as "how many people opened the message then clicked the link?"). The intention here is to focus training and awareness on the folks who need it, not to draw attention or publicly shame anyone. If you click on one of IT’s phishing emails, you might be required to watch a video or take part in an online activity that increases your awareness of cybersecurity issues.

Think before you click! This is a great mantra for both work and home. Many cybersecurity breaches (both personal and professional) begin with someone clicking a link without thinking and they end up with malware or ransomware. Malware is the term for “malicious software” or software with bad intentions, such as stealing your identity or destroying files. Ransomware encrypts your data - including server data at work or cherished family photos at home - and requires sending the bad guys a ransom to get the decryption key.

In order to collect baseline data to determine how well staff are using good cybersecurity practices, IT initiated a campaign that sent out a message to all SD1 email users on February 2 with the subject "Special Delivery from Amazon for Valentine's Day!" 

Of the 255 delivered messages, 24.7% opened the email and 5.9% clicked a link in the email. This is a fairly good percentage for our initial baseline, but it only takes one wrong click to launch a ransomware attack that maliciously encrypts your computer and even server drives. Think before you click!

Going forward, expect that IT will be launching additional phishing campaigns and training. IT will let everyone know of upcoming training campaigns, but the phishing campaigns will be unannounced and random.

Always - if you receive an email that you are suspicious of, forward to IT through the dedicated email security address: abuse@sd1.org.

Please contact Doug Wells or Dane Boggs if you have any questions and Think before you click!