Crossposted from KCIT Many people are giving up their traditional landline phone service and moving to cell phones or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service. Be aware that these services works differently than traditional landline 911 service. If you’re using a cell phone to call 911, only your general location may display at the 911 center. Because of this, it is very important that you know your location and can relay the address, street names, or nearby landmarks. Text-to-911 is a service in King County that can help those who are… Read More

An email from King County’s vendor KnowBe4 was sent Aug. 4 to all employees with links to annual cybersecurity training. This is not a phishing attempt. Annual cybersecurity training is required for all employees and contractors with access to King County systems (even if you took it last year). Training must be completed by Jan. 30, 2026. Employees who complete cybersecurity training by 5pm on Monday, Aug. 18 will be entered in a prize drawing. Additionally, the first department to cross the finish line (100% participation) will win serious bragging rights, and a shiny trophy. (Please note: this competition is only available… Read More

Starting Aug. 4, KCIT’s vendor KnowBe4 will send an email to all employees with links to cybersecurity training. This is not a phishing attempt. Annual cybersecurity training is required for all employees and contractors with access to King County systems (even if you took it last year). Training must be completed by Jan. 30, 2026. Cybersecurity training is an important safeguard that helps protect vital King County systems; the number of employees that complete training each year impacts our insurance rates. Total instruction time is about 60 minutes. Thank you for doing your… Read More

If you have ever signed in to a website such as Facebook or Amazon, you will notice that on the login page, the URL will change from ‘http’ to ‘https’. What that little ‘s’ stands for is secure. It means that your web browser and the website have both agreed to communicate securely so that no other individuals will be able to ‘listen in’ on your conversation. If you needed to communicate some sensitive information such as a password to someone else, you would not shout out in the open ‘HERE IS… Read More

KCIT is pleased to offer Digital Accessibility (ADA) Training in NEOGOV. These 55 on-demand learning modules were developed by Deque University, an industry leader for technical accessibility training. Courses discuss how to use accessibility tools in a wide range of common King County software applications such as Outlook, Teams, PowerPoint, Excel, and more. These courses are available to all King County employees in NEOGOV through March 2026; content can be accessed for a one-time fee of $14 (usually $300). Contact KCIT’s EIB Manager, Jennifer Broadus, for details. Digital accessibility is crucial to… Read More

King County employees are reminded to never reuse passwords across accounts and always enable multifactor authentication (MFA), also called two-step authentication. Recent news of 16 billion exposed credentials has made headlines around the globe. While this is not a new data breach (the list is a compilation of previously leaked credentials from various past incidents), it still serves as an important reminder: following cybersecurity best practices can help protect vital King County systems. Thank you for doing your part to safeguard King County! For questions or assistance, contact the KCIT Helpdesk.

Most of us have a smartphone, but how many of us really think about the security threats faced by these mobile devices? Mobile devices are vulnerable to many different types of threats. The bad guys are increasing attacks on mobile devices and targeting your phone using malicious applications. Using these methods, they can steal personal and business information without you having any idea what’s going on. Even if you’ve downloaded a security or antivirus application, securing your smartphone goes beyond these services. Improving your mobile security practices is your best defense against… Read More

When you receive an email from an online service or business partner that you are not expecting, proceed with caution. For example, if you receive an email from eBay stating that you have just won an online auction, there are a couple of questions you should ask yourself. Are you a member of eBay? (This goes for online banking as well. If you receive an email from a bank you do not have an account with, do not click any links) Did you bid on any auctions recently? (If you did not… Read More

What is sensitive information? Sensitive information is privileged information which – if compromised through alteration, corruption, loss, misuse, or unauthorized disclosure – could cause serious harm to an individual or organization. You must always give the highest level of protection to privileged information. Here we discuss Personally Identifiable Information, or PII. What is Personally Identifiable Information? For the purpose of data protection, PII is defined as: any instance of an individual’s first name (or first initial) plus the last name, and any one of 29 additional confidential items. Read more.