Recently, several King County employees have received emails with instructions to re-authenticate their passwords by scanning a QR code. Do not scan the QR code. This is a new “phishing” tactic from cybercriminals. Although these sophisticated emails often look like genuine security alerts, please be aware that King County does not use QR codes to re-authenticate passwords. Only scan QR codes from trusted, expected sources. Please use the “Report Phishing” button in Outlook to report any suspicious emails. Thank you for helping keep King County safe from cybersecurity threats!

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

Do you keep a login and password written down on a Post-it or piece of paper near your desk? If so, you should get rid of it by following your company’s sensitive document disposal policy. If your company does not have such a policy, you should use a paper shredder to dispose of the Post-it. Do not simply place the Post-it in the trash. While it may be tough to remember a login and password for all of the sites and portals you belong to, writing the passwords down on a piece of paper, or… 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

You know that little pop-up prompting you to restart your computer for a software update? The one that only seems to come up when you’re in the middle of something important? As annoying as it may seem, this notification is actually a valuable asset to your cybersecurity. So, before you click the “Later” option, let’s take a closer look! What is a software update? A software update is a new and improved version of a program, application, or operating system that you are already using. The update may include new features, bug… 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. An example of these twenty-nine… Read More

What is it? Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) is the process of verifying that you are who you claim to be when logging in to a device or an account. If you’re reading this from your work computer, you probably logged in to your computer – that’s single-factor authentication. But single-factor authentication is no longer enough to keep your accounts secure. Learn more below about the various ways you can digitally-authenticate your identity. Understanding the types of identity claim factors: Something you own. This is using a mobile phone or device that you have… Read More

On Wednesday, June 28, employees will receive an email from King County’s partner “KnowBe4” (do-not-reply@knowbe4.com) with a personalized link to their assigned Cybersecurity Training. The training includes several short learning modules, totaling about 90 minutes of instruction. All employees and vendors with access to King County systems must complete the annual Cybersecurity Training by Dec. 31, 2023. Read more.

Did you know your computer’s operating system is updated several times a year? This update happens behind the scenes, but requires you to restart your computer. This restart can take several minutes. Your computer may offer to reschedule this required restart until later, but will only allow you to postpone once or twice – you can’t delay the update forever! Most updates include important features such as new virus protections that are critical for the safety of King County’s systems. Please practice good IT “hygiene” and restart your computer regularly! Be sure… Read More

Microsoft is disabling their Internet Explorer (IE) web browser in favor of Edge. Going forward, any links you click will automatically open in Edge rather than IE. You can manually open Microsoft Edge by searching your Windows start menu in the lower left corner of your screen. For easier access, you can add the Edge browser to your task bar (the bottom ribbon on your screen) by simply right clicking on the Edge icon and selecting the “pin to taskbar” option. The Edge browser is expected to work with nearly all websites;… Read More