News

Thank you all for your active participation during Cybersecurity Awareness Month! Remember to stay vigilant year-round, protecting our organization is an ongoing effort. Two new resources from KnowBe4 have been added to your library:

1. Business Email Compromise (~4 mins): Cybercriminals have wised up and are adapting their tricks and techniques to target employees using spoofed or hoax email accounts.
2. QR Codes: Safe Scanning (~4 mins): Staff should maintain a heightened state of awareness and caution when receiving email messages containing hyperlinks, including QR codes, and attachments.

There has been an increase of QR phishing emails in our environment, example below: 

To continue improving our cybersecurity awareness, we encourage all staff members to explore these new resources at their earliest opportunity. You can access them by navigating to the Staff Hub > Services > KnowBe4 Cybersecurity Resources > Library.

Employees are encouraged to forward any suspected phishing emails to abuse@hcpss.org, and then delete the email. If assistance is still needed, contact the Technology Support at TechSupport@hcpss.org.

The login process for Office 365, including Outlook email, OneDrive, Teams and others, will be updated on Wednesday, November 1 and will impact the way both staff and students authenticate to the system. 

Read below to learn what username or Sign in needs to be entered in order to authenticate to the O365 system. Note, users will continue to use their Active Directory passwords and passwords will not be changed with this update. 

• Staff Login: Staff have two options 
  • Enter their username followed by @hcpss.org in the Sign in field. For example, if the staff member’s username is jdoe, their sign in name would be jdoe@hcpss.org. 
  • Enter their email address in the Sign in field. For example, john_doe@hcpss.org. 
• Student Login: 
  • Students will need to enter their username followed by @inst.hcpss.org in the Sign in field. For secondary students this is their O365 email address. For example, if the student’s username is "ssmith1234," their login would be "ssmith1234@inst.hcpss.org." 

Note: Staff will continue to be required to approve the successful authentication to O365 via Duo MFA. 

These changes are being implemented to improve security and reliability. We appreciate your cooperation as we work to enhance the security and efficiency of our information systems. Staff can direct their questions to TechSupport@hcpss.org. 

Please see below for screenshots of the old and new login/Sign in interface. 

Old O365 login window - This page will be discontinued starting on Wednesday, November 1.

New O365 Sign in/Login Window - Enter updated username/sign in or email address, followed by your normal Active Directory password.

SIngle Sign-in Login Page - This change does not affect the login process for Canvas, Google, Workday, Synergy and other services that use the blue authentication page that includes the Digital Citizenship Pledge.

Why did you choose to work in education?
I wanted to assist in ensuring students received the appropriate services under the law. Working within a school system appeared to be the more effective route to support students and ensure required services were provided as opposed to suing school systems on behalf of individual students. Also, my father served on the school board throughout my education and handed me my diploma as his last act as a Board member.

What is the best professional advice you've ever received?
Always keep the interest of the students at the forefront of any discussions as the business of the school system is to educate the students.

What is something you like a lot that would surprise people?
Rooting for Tottenham Hotspur, English Premier League, and playing Premier League Fantasy Football.

What is on your bucket list?
To visit presidential birthplaces and libraries throughout the United States.

What is the most interesting place you’ve ever been?
The Cathedral of Bones in Evora, Portugal. The country is beautiful; the Cathedral is a bit creepy, but extremely interesting to see.

All staff are expected to complete assigned Vector Training modules by the applicable due dates. These online training modules provide valuable information that staff must know related to student and staff health and well-being, and how to properly and legally navigate a number of circumstances that could arise on any given day. 

All staff receive email reminders of overdue and upcoming Vector trainings. You also can access them anytime via the Staff Hub > Services drop-down > Vector Training. Please note, hourly employees should only access and complete the trainings during their duty day.

Please contact HCPSS Technology Support at techsupport@hcpss.org if you require technical assistance with the modules. 

Thank you for your continued vigilance during Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Two new resources from KnowBe4 have been added to your library: 

1. Understanding URLs (~3 mins): URLs are one of the most common attack vectors used by cybercriminals. Learn to distinguish between legitimate and malicious URLs to help prevent phishing attacks and protect our network.
2. Social Media: Staying Secure in a Connected World (~14 mins): This resource will guide you on best practices to protect your online presence.

To enhance our collective cybersecurity knowledge, we invite all staff members to explore these new resources at their convenience. You can access them by navigating to the Staff Hub > Services > KnowBe4 Cybersecurity Resources > Library. 

Employees are encouraged to forward any suspected phishing emails to abuse@hcpss.org, and then delete the email. If assistance is still needed, contact the Technology Support at TechSupport@hcpss.org.

HCPSS is committed to safeguarding our digital environment and ensuring the security of our data and communications. As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance our cybersecurity measures, we will be conducting a series of email skill tests in the coming weeks.

What to Expect: These tests will simulate phishing attempts to assess our collective ability to identify and respond to suspicious emails. Please note that these tests will be performed by our internal IT team and will not involve any actual threats to your accounts or sensitive information. 

Why We Are Doing This: Phishing attacks continue to evolve and pose a significant threat to individuals and organizations worldwide. By proactively assessing our email skills, we can better promote targeted resources to build understanding across our school system and prevent potential security risks.

What You Can Do:

1. Be vigilant: Pay close attention to incoming emails, especially if they seem unusual or request sensitive information.
2. Report suspicious emails: If you receive an email that you believe may be a phishing attempt, please report it using the “Report Message” button in your email client or forward the message to abuse@hcpss.org.
3. Brush up your knowledge: Last week’s KnowBe4 Cybersecurity Resources are under the Library heading are still available to view and two new below resources have been added:
   • KnowBe4 Pretexting - "Tech Support" Social Engineering 
   • Micro-module - Introduction to Ransomware 

Your Participation Matters: We appreciate your cooperation and understanding as we work together to enhance our organization's cybersecurity. Should you fall victim to the phishing attack skills test, you will receive targeted resources and email reminders to review them.

Employees are encouraged to forward any suspected phishing emails to abuse@hcpss.org, and then delete the email. If assistance is still needed, contact the Technology Support at TechSupport@hcpss.org.

The attached letter serves as notification, as required by law, of the availability for public review of AsbestosManagement Plans for Howard County Public Schools.

For additional information, contact the HCPSS Office of the Environment at 410-313-8874.

October marks the start of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a time to enhance our digital safety knowledge and practices. To start off the month, we are launching a new online platform for staff called KnowBe4 Cybersecurity Resources. KnowBe4 provides staff information on how to stay safe in the digital world in two ways: 

1. Emails from KnowBe4 containing short security hints and tips. In the coming weeks be on the lookout for emails from <SecurityTips@KnowBe4.com> that will contain timely cybersecurity safety and security practices. 
2. Curated online library of resources and videos on cybersecurity topics. To access the platform visit the Staff Hub and from the Services menu select KnowBe4 Cybersecurity Resources link. Once on the site, select Library from the menu. Two resources have already been added by our IT Security team, including: 
   • Security Culture and You 
   • Eight Ways to Strengthen and Secure Your Passwords Today! 

Let's make cybersecurity a top priority and work together to keep our information secure. Stay tuned for more updates throughout the month. 

Employees are encouraged to forward any suspected phishing emails to abuse@hcpss.org, and then delete the email. If assistance is still needed, contact the Technology Support at TechSupport@hcpss.org.

The Department of Information Technology (IT) is committed to creating a safer IT environment. To that end, users of Apple products should be aware of an advisory that was published related to vulnerabilities in Apple operating systems.   

Warning! If you use Apple products, including any of the following iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple Watch or an Apple computer, it is important that you run operating system updates. Users can find directions to update iOS (iPhones, iPad, and iPod Touches) on the Technology Support Canvas community.  

Employees are encouraged to forward any suspected phishing emails to abuse@hcpss.org, and then delete the email. If assistance is needed, contact the Technology Support at TechSupport@hcpss.org.

The Information Technology Department is continuing to modernize its file storage approach by relocating school-based files to a file hosting service operated by Microsoft (O365 OneDrive).  This includes the home directory, campus, and hand-in/out folders for both staff and students.    

Note:  The below information is for anyone with a requirement to retain files contained in their Homedir$ (Z: drive), Campus$ (W: drive), Hand-in$ (T: drive), or Hand-out$ (P: drive) folders.  If you do not have files or wish to keep any files stored in these folders, you do not need to do anything.    

! Call to Action:  Staff who have files saved to these locations that they wish to retain -  

Prior to Sept. 30, 2023, staff should notify Tech Support at TechSupport@hcpss.org, or 410.313.7004, and request that a ticket be entered (Server Administration > Network Directory/Folder Access) for the Technology Department migrate the files to O365 OneDrive.  

*All migration requests must include the person’s name, username and building location. 

Once the migration is complete, staff will be able to access their files by selecting Office 365 from the Staff Hub and then One Drive from the waffle menu in the top left corner. Learn about OneDrive on the Technology Resources Canvas community. 

If after reviewing this information and the linked resources, you have any questions contact Tech Support at TechSupport@hcpss.org or 410.313.7004.