#CyberAware about Ransomware
October 7, 2016Imagine your local government’s files and documents held for ransom. The risk is greater than you think, with the number of cyber-attacks by ransomware increasing rapidly.
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#CyberAware Month Tip One: The dangers of password reuse
October 3, 2016Have you ever used the same password for your work PC as your home banking account or private email? Do you sometimes open email attachments before checking that the message is from someone you know and trust? Maybe you need to be #CyberAware!
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Re-post:Washington’s Military Department writes on #CyberAware Month
September 29, 2016Gov. Jay Inslee is recognizing October as Cyber Security Awareness Month, a designation that comes on the heels of a summit between Maj. Gen. Bret Daugherty and Guard leaders from other states to help bolster the nation’s cybersecurity presence.
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For the Love of Washington Cities
September 28, 2016As a partner in the Government Performance Consortium (GPC) initiative, we are excited to share with you a mini-documentary about the first Love of Cities Tour in Washington State, which has sparked tremendous excitement across our state for new ways to connect cities and citizens in co-creating more vibrant, healthy and resilient communities.
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New checklist for Cash Basis financial statements
September 21, 2016The State Auditor’s Office is responsible for examining the financial affairs of all local governments in the state. We conduct more than 2,000 audits of local governments each year. Using the results of those audits, our Office then evaluates the overall patterns and that were reported.
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Who audits the auditor? They do!
September 19, 2016Government auditing standards require our office to get a “peer review” every three years. For our 2016 peer review, a team of auditors from eight other states and a federal agency came to Olympia the week of September 12th to review our audit policies and manuals and a cross-section of audit reports and working papers.
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“Vishing” can pose a threat
September 14, 2016“Vishing” uses techniques that are essentially similar to phishing, the act of acquiring sensitive information via electronic communication while posing as a trusted entity. A vishing attack takes place over the telephone, using call spoofing, and tricks a user into disclosing personal information such as credit card numbers or a three digit security code.
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Taking a swipe at credit card fraud
September 9, 2016Credit and procurement cards are easy to use, convenient and efficient. As a result, government use of these cards has increased exponentially over the last decade. Unfortunately, there can be a dark side to using cards: they often bypass standard, established payment controls. The combination of high card usage and weak controls is an environment ripe for fraud.
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The Cost of Transparency
August 29, 2016It’s hard to deny the benefits of an open and transparent government. The Public Records Act allows people to request things like video footage, emails, land development records — essentially almost every record that a government produces. The importance of access to government records can be seen in frequent examples across the nation, such as when the San Francisco Examiner discovered that police investigated rapes in upscale Berkeley far more readily than in the crime-blighted neighborhoods of Oakland by systematically examining local government records.
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A manager hired to help developmentally disabled people misappropriates more than $58,000
August 22, 2016(Audit report published Aug. 11) The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) oversees supported living agencies, which provide services to individuals with developmental disabilities. A house manager runs the daily operations of the supported living home such as purchasing food, completing payroll, and paying bills.
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