12-19-2015 7:20 am

All Groupwise Post Offices are offline.  Keep posted for updates.

Groupwise will be unavailable on Saturday, December 19 for post office maintenance/migration and upgrade.  Updates will be posted on this site when Groupwise is up and fully functional.

by John Zorabedian on October 20, 2015

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2015/10/20/facebook-to-warn-you-of-targeted-attacks-check-this-security-setting-anyway/

Facebook has announced that it will notify users it suspects are being targeted by nation states and urge them to take extra security precautions.

Alex Stamos, Facebook’s chief security officer, explained the new notifications in a 16 October blog post, saying users will only receive the warnings if Facebook has strong evidence suggesting they are being targeted by nation-state sponsored attackers.

If the social network believes you are under attack from state-sponsored hackers, it will show a pop-up message in your feed explaining that you may have been targeted.

The message asks, but does not require, those users to turn on an extra layer of protection for their account called Login Approvals.

Stamos said Facebook “will have always taken steps to secure accounts that we believe to have been compromised,” but will show the warning to users because these attacks may be “more advanced and dangerous” than others.

This is how the message looks in the desktop version of Facebook:

Jay, we believe your Facebook account and other online accounts may be the target of attacks from state-sponsored actors. Turning on Login Approvals will help keep others from logging into your Facebook account. Whenever your account is accessed from a new device or browser, we'll send a security code to your phone so that only you can log in. We recommend you also take steps to secure the accounts you use on other services.

Because of the persistence of state-sponsored attackers, anyone whose Facebook account is under attack by a nation state is probably also being targeted on other services, so Facebook encourages securing those accounts as well.

Google began sending similar warnings to Gmail users back in 2012.

Just like Google, Facebook says it can’t reveal how or why it suspects state-sponsored attacks, for fear of giving away useful information to attackers about security methods.

Nation states may target individuals for political or national security reasons, but also attack individuals to gain access to their employers’ intellectual property or customer data, for example.

Countries like North Korea and China have been suspected of sponsoring attacks on private companies.

Hackers affiliated with the Chinese military were indicted by the US two years ago for allegedly hacking into several US steel companies.

The US claims the Chinese hackers used phishing emails and malware to gain access to email accounts of company officials, in order to steal information that would benefit Chinese state-run steel companies in trade disputes.

Targeted or not, extra security is always a good idea

Even if nation states aren’t likely to target you personally, it would be a shame to fall into the trap of thinking “no one’s interested in little old me.”

As Naked Security expert Paul Ducklin pointed out in a post describing all the bad excuses we make for neglecting our security, we are all on cybercriminals’ radars:

We're all in the sights of cybercrooks somewhere, and we owe it to ourselves and to everyone else to do the best we can to thwart them.

Today’s cybercriminals are typically in the business of making money, and to do that they want to compromise as many users and devices as possible.

One method for attackers to gain access to your accounts is to implant malware on your computer that can steal passwords.

Malware of this sort can get on your computer in various ways, such as through boobytrapped email attachments, or by visiting a malicious website harboring malware that downloads automatically (called a drive-by download).

Malware can also spread via Facebook.

We recently learned of a hacker using a type of malware called a “Facebook Spreader” to compromise Facebook accounts via malicious links in Facebook chat messages.

In August, a US-based hacker named Eric Crocker pleaded guilty to spreading Facebook malware to hijack thousands of accounts in order to send spam.

Just like Facebook recommends, we think it’s a good idea to add extra layers of security to your accounts, such as login verification or two-factor authentication.

Even if you’re not likely to be a target of a nation state, that’s no reason to become easy prey for common cybercriminals.

How to turn on Facebook Login Approvals

When you turn on Facebook Login Approvals, you’ll need to enter a special one-time code whenever you log into Facebook from an unrecognized device or browser.

You’ll receive the codes on your phone as a text message, so Facebook needs your mobile phone number to send Login Notification alerts.

Login Approvals are similar but more secure than Login Notification, which alerts you when your account is accessed from a new device or browser, but without requiring a code.

To turn on Login Approvals:

1. Click the down arrow at the top right of any Facebook page
2. Go to Settings > Security
3. Click on Login Approvals
4. Check the box and click Save Changes

Finally, once you’ve set that up, make sure you change this setting so you can’t be searched for by phone number.

Our 4th Quarter safety meeting will be held at Jonathan Byrd’s Cafeteria located just off the Greenwood / I-65 exit beginning at 7am on Thursday October 22, 2015.

IU Health will be on site performing Flu vaccines during check in.

Any employee who does NOT want to receive a Flu vaccine, or will not be able to attend this meeting, please let me know as soon as possible.

We will be reviewing the new on line time sheet program, on line toolbox talks, and Kathy Hardey will be reviewing health insurance information for 2016 with us as well.

You may occasionally receive spam in your inbox, however, our Barracuda Spam Filter does a great job of preventing our Groupwise Mailboxes from filling up with unsolicited emails.  The chart below lists statistics on our Barracuda Spam Filter over the past year.

Paul Clawson, RCDD, OSP
Account Manager at Zenith Systems
5055 Corbin Dr.
Bedford Heights, OH 44128-5462
Tel: +1 216.584.2645 or +1 216.318.8867
Email: pclawson@zenithsolutions.com

Paul Clawson, RCDD, OSP, is a veteran of the U.S. Army and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance. He currently serves as an account manager with an excellent company, Zenith Systems, in Cleveland, Ohio. He has been married to his very supportive wife, Amy, for 26 years, and they have two wonderful sons, Ben and Tim. He and his family are currently in the process of moving from Cincinnati, Ohio, where they have spent the last 26 years, to Cleveland, Ohio. Clawson started his career in the residential construction industry, and in 1997, he was afforded the opportunity to enter the telecom industry by Clawson Communications, which was extending its operations into the Cincinnati area. He became a district manager for that operation. He spent a short time with Pomeroy and followed with running his own cabling company, Yellow Jack-IT Communications, LLC, before signing on with Beacon Solutions in 2009. Beacon Solutions gave Clawson global exposure and an in-depth opportunity to solidify his infrastructure design skills. He is currently an account manager with Zenith Systems in Bedford Heights, Ohio. The scope of his current duties encompasses customer account management, project management, estimating, new project development and design. He has subsequently spent the last 18 years in the telecommunications industry. The bulk of Clawson’s experience has been in the commercial, industrial and pharmaceutical verticals with less emphasis on the medical and K-12 sectors. He intends to maintain his current credentials and enhance his skill set with the BICSI Data Center Design Consultant (DCDC) credential, along with advanced credentials in the wireless arena of layer 1 technologies. Additionally, he intends to pursue a few select networking certifications and participate in continuous improvement within the Project Management Professional curriculum.

Involvement with BICSI activities, committees, and membership:
To date, Clawson has only been involved in BICSI as a member. He was asked by former BICSI President, Jerry Bowman, to contribute to the BICSI Project Management curriculum but was not selected to provide input. Being elected for the U.S. North-Central Region Director would be Clawson’s first opportunity to contribute to the goals of the BICSI mission.

If elected, Clawson will:
If Clawson is elected to serve as the U.S. North-Central Region Director for BICSI, he will spend his time and effort bringing the region’s BICSI members pertinent information, demonstrations and knowledge of the latest cutting-edge technologies within the industry, while providing them an opportunity to earn continuing education credits (CECs) toward their credentials for dedicating their time to stay current. He intends to move the presence and mission of BICSI forward within the region by promoting the benefits of BICSI membership and participation.

Additional volunteer experience:
Clawson’s son, Tim, was born with Cerebral Palsy, so all of his time has been spent supporting him and the efforts of UCP within the community. He and Tim were actively involved with Miracle League Baseball in Cincinnati for eight years. They have been proud supporters of the Aaron W. Perlman Center at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Candidates for the Position of U.S. North-Central Region Director

We are in the process of creating Online Toolbox Talks.  The Toolbox Talks site can be found by visiting http://training.clawsons.com.  You must create an account prior to accessing the site.  I have included a PDF detailing the registration process and toolbox talk training signup on the http://training.clawsons.com home page.  Each Toolbox Talk will be available for 10 days.  Some of the toolbox talks include quizzes that must be completed.  If you would like to try the online toolbox talks and provide feedback, please register using your clawsons.com email address.  Any input would be appreciated.

Employees are now able to complete an online timesheet instead of completing a paper timesheet.  All employees are now eligible to login at http://timesheet.clawsons.com.

Your username will be your employee ID.  Your employee ID can be found on your paystub below your address and above the earnings line, and will be in the format of COSTCENTER-INITIALS (example 51-jdoe)

Your default password will be FIRSTINITIALLASTNAME (example, Jon Doe’s default password would be jdoe)  Please change your default password by clicking the “Profile” tab.  Usernames and passwords ARE case sensitive.