Hi Everyone,
I wanted to continue our discussion about ”Securing the Human.” Many times I will
be removing some spyware or virus from a user’s computer, and I always get
the question, “How did that get in there? Don’t we have stuff that takes care of
this?”
That is a great question! Counties spend thousands of dollars on
security hardware and software to keep our systems from being infected. They do
a pretty good job, but no system is perfect and we need to look at shoring up all
the parts of the county systems. One part of the system that we can strengthen
up right away is the human part. (That means you!)
We, the county employee, need to be educated and made aware of how
we can do our part to make sure our data and computer systems are safe. Many
times a virus or piece of spyware can be traced back to a simple click of a
mouse when we aren't really paying attention. What did that screen say that you
just clicked yes on? One example is the ask.com toolbar. I have had people ask
me how in the world did that get there? What happened too my Google? I then take them
through a java update and low and behold there is the screen during the update
asking if you want to install the ask.com toolbar. Usually most people never
see that screen because they click right through it to get the update; never
understanding they just installed an annoying toolbar on their web browser.
Pretty hard to stop that evil virus or spyware if we are the ones letting it in
past all of the systems.
The Stop.Think.Connect website (http://stopthinkconnect.org/) offers a host of good
information on making us all better users of the internet at work and at home.
You can take all of the cyber education you learn at work and apply that to your
home internet use. Everybody wins!
***REMINDER: More tips on securing the human will be given by this
year’s Iowa State Association of Counties Fall School of Instruction keynote speaker, Lance Spitzner. You won’t want to miss his eye-opening and
thought inducing presentation.
Also, don’t miss ICIT being featured in an international webcast
given by SANS on Tuesday, October 29 at 4:00 pm EDT. The story of Iowa Counties "Paying IT Forward" will be presented. Click
here for more information and to register.
Next week I want to focus on Phishing. It is probably the nastiest
and most effective tool that hackers are using to get into county systems, and we need to
spend a little time and focus on educating ourselves on how to dodge this very
nasty bullet.
Thank you,
Joel Rohne
IT/GIS Worth County
641.324.3668
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