From Dr. Riddick
Based on recent attacks, JCS Technology Services wanted to send a friendly reminder to be diligent in your careful handling of emails with links and attachments. Information we have previously sent is below as a detailed reminder.
We are asking that EVERYONE change their JCPS email password. We strongly recommend that passwords contain numbers, letters, and symbols, as well as include some random capitalization. The more secure your password, the less likely that your account will be hacked.
Also, remember to use a unique password for each separate account you have. If you use the same password across all of your accounts, once a hacker determines your password, all of your accounts are in jeopardy.
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Remember many harmful emails can appear legitimate. Do not click on links or attachments unless you are absolutely sure of it's authenticity. When in doubt, contact the sender via phone or a separate email-NOT by replying to the suspected email.
JCS continues to experience a significant amount of email attacks and phishing campaigns. The spammers are getting smarter everyday and sending emails with PDF attachments that look legitimate and often reference JCS business activities. We all need to remain diligent when opening attachments. Sometimes it appears to come from a district employee, but their account has been hacked. Often these attachments have very general/generic sounding file names. Do not open these attachments unless you are absolutely certain it is a trusted file meant for you. If you are not expecting a pdf form someone, we suggest verifying that the person did actually send you the pdf.
JCS and Google block 99% of these harmful emails, however the dangerous emails that do get through result in issues for our staff, students, and the system. These attacks cost JCS numerous hours of time and labor to clean the email accounts and result in teacher and staff downtime due to loss of account access.
Everyone should BE MINDFUL of every email you open.
- You should only open emails that you KNOW are safe.
- When in doubt, close the email and notify Tech Services.
- Most certainly NEVER enter any account info for any attachment.
When Google recognizes that accounts are "hacked" and sending out harmful emails, they automatically suspend the account. Google's policy only allows 5 suspensions before they eliminate the email account from their domain.
Again, please be mindful of:
-keeping your password secure
-opening attachments, and
-NEVER entering passwords for anything, a document or link, from an email. (Even if it comes from Google. If this happens, contact Tech Services so we can investigate.)
-Do not use your JCS email for any kind of web subscriptions or social sites. Typically, this is where these situations originate.Here are directions for updating your password if you have teachers who need some guidance.