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November 2015


Online security is essential Our cooperative takes cyber security very


seriously. Working


with our power supplier Western


Farmers Electric and various software and Internet vendors, we have services, firewall, and filters in place to guard against the “hacking” of our cooperative information and infrastructure. I have often compared the cyber world of today to one of those zombie movies where a horde of zombies is constantly checking all the doors and windows to see if there is an opening left unguarded.


Our SWRE employees undergo continuing education in many areas of our industry, but cyber security is beginning to be one of the leading topics of learning. Even though industries, businesses, and organizations may spend much time and money on guarding against intrusion, the most vulnerable area may be individual e-mails. Those e-mails


may become the “unlocked door”,


unintentionally left open, that the zombie may find for access! There are actually countries that attack business, industry, banking and governments, but there is also a multitude of hackers out there who are ready to steal your individual information as well. The low-hanging fruit for many of those hackers is our individual e-mail accounts that can provide all kinds of private data to take over your identity, bank account,


or business. These vermin count on


human nature and employ a tactic called Social Engineering to lure you into a situation where they can commandeer the control of your computer, data and files to monitor keystrokes, transactions, and even the voice or camera devices.


Social engineering is basically using some sort of scam to appeal to your curiosity, paranoia, good citizenship, trust, greed or other exploitations of our human nature to persuade you to give them control of your data. “Click it” is a familiar reminder when we talk about seat belts, but clicks with that computer mouse can be some of the most important decisions that you encounter on a daily basis. By clicking on and downloading some bogus link, request, or web site, you could expose your computer, tablet, laptop, or phone to a hacker who now has access to all your banking, credit cards, and personal data. We have all gotten the e-mails that inform us that we have won a lottery we didn’t enter or that some guy in a foreign country needs us to help him put millions in our bank account to share with him. “Click here” if you want to be a better (FILL IN THE


by Mike R. Hagy


BLANK), get info about the package we couldn’t deliver, respond to the IRS, etc. Unfortunately when you “click” you may have just unlocked the door for that “zombie” that we have been talking about. Not only can that “zombie” now enter your house, but you may have also allowed him access to your workplace and all other contacts stored on your data. It is much easier to hack an employee’s e-mail to get behind a firewall than to directly penetrate those areas that may be protected by thousands of dollars worth of security equipment.


Since you are the only person who can ultimately decide to click or delete, here are some things to look for to defeat those social engineering attempts by hackers.     regular basis?


  for some reason? For instance, was it sent at 3:30 AM or not a topic that you and that person would talk about?


  that’s not logical and doesn’t “feel” right for some reason. The e-mail instructs you to click on the attachment to see if you have won something in a contest that you haven’t entered or to avoid a negative action you have no knowledge of committing.


  no connection with you or each other, there are misspellings, or “close-to” but not correct spellings.


The bottom line is that you may be fooled at some point into opening malicious e-mails, but the more aware you are of the ways that hackers try to appeal to our weaknesses as humans, the better off you will be.


Like it or not, many of us must use e-mails to communicate with family and in our jobs, but using common sense and developing an awareness of scams and “zombies” that are out there ready to take advantage of an opening is essential. Cyber Security is a requirement today for SWRE


and our members – just as important as physical security for facilities and homes. We will continue to address all these issues to provide you power through our vision of Safety, Service and Satisfaction – one member at a time. No Zombies Allowed!


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