Introducing the State IT Update
Welcome to the first issue of the State Update, state employees’ number one source for all state IT updates, tips and more. The State IT Update will be sent every other month and will focus mainly on state IT security. Other information will include technology upgrades and initiatives, IOT performance metrics and changes to IOT’s rates and services.
Please enjoy the first issue and let us know how we can improve future issues of the State IT Update.
State IT Security Combats SPAM
Many have noticed the recent surge in SPAM traffic coming to state e-mailboxes, which is a simple case of the SPAM senders getting ahead of our SPAM blocking software. IOT continues to do all it can to minimize user inconvenience, but users can help, too. Here are a few SPAM stats and tips:
- Since January 1, 2007, the state's SPAM filter has blocked 127,808,601 e-mails.
- In June, the state received 19,434,995 messages from parties outside of state government.
- Of those, 86% (16,746,744) were blocked as SPAM.
- To help IOT combat this issue, remain alert for SPAM that evades the filter.
- Forward SPAM messages to the IOT Postmaster then delete the message as quickly as possible.
For more information about the increase in SPAM, please visit the IOT Newsroom.
Password Management: A Security Essential
Whether it is to protect the information of citizens that your agency supports or your own personal information, good password management practices are essential. Here is a quick list of Dos and Don’ts regarding password management.
- Don’t divulge your password(s) to anyone. Peers, supervisors or assistants do not need your passwords as there are other secure methods for sharing data.
- Do change your password immediately when given a default password or one changed by Customer Service.
- Don’t use passwords that are based on personal information that can be easily accessed or guessed (kids' names, phone number, birthday, etc.).
- Don’t use words that can be found in a dictionary of any language.
- Do develop a memory technique for remembering complex passwords.
- Do use both capital and lowercase letters.
- Do use a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters.
More information about password management can be found at the IOT online Newsroom.
