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Supervisors approve cybersecurity travel; staff highlights phishing risk and community outreach plan
Summary
Washington County’s IT and cybersecurity staff reported phishing-simulation results and won committee approval to send their cybersecurity officer to a vendor conference in Las Vegas; staff also proposed a “SAFE” outreach magnet for seniors.
Washington County supervisors voted to approve out-of-state travel for the county’s cybersecurity officer to attend the Falcon (CrowdStrike) user conference in Las Vegas, county IT staff said during a committee meeting on June 24. The trip was in the department’s travel plan and covered in the current budget, and the committee approved the request by voice vote.
During the cybersecurity report, staff described results from internal phishing simulations and training: nine county employees clicked a simulated phishing link during the most recent exercise. “That’s why we would love it to be 0. That’s the goal is to have it be 0,” an IT staff speaker said, adding that the county will use additional training and “smart groups” in the phishing software to direct repeat clickers to extra training.
Staff described the county’s response when employees fail a simulation: the training platform displays an educational message and suggests corrective actions immediately after the simulated phishing event. “When they fail, it'll say, this is a phishing simulation. Here's what you should have done,” an IT staff member said.
Committee members also discussed practical consumer cybersecurity risks. One committee member described a personal example of used-vehicle connectivity that left location and remote-start features active after a sale; staff used the exchange to urge multi-factor authentication, caution about skimmers at gas pumps and to recommend credit cards rather than debit cards for online purchases.
As part of community outreach, staff asked for permission to use the county logo on small refrigerator magnets containing a four-letter reminder, “SAFE,” with short guidance for seniors (stop/ask/familiar/encryption). Staff said the magnets, plus flyers, would be distributed at senior events to encourage reporting suspicious activity and steps to protect accounts. The committee approved the request to use the county logo for outreach materials.
The committee also approved the out-of-state travel request for the Falcon conference; staff said the trip had been included in prior travel planning and is covered in the budget. Supervisors asked for itinerary and cost details to be submitted for the record after the motion passed.
