Floyd County to require online security training of employees; courthouse remains open

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Floyd County employees could soon find themselves tempted by an online phishing scheme if they’re not careful, but it’s all part of an educational program to help secure the county’s computer networks.

Bernie Solomon, county IT director, suggested to the county supervisors at their workshop meeting Monday that they take advantage of currently free security awareness training offered by the Iowa Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO).

“I think this would be a huge benefit to our county. Ninety percent of your ransomware that gets sent to a computer is somebody clicking on a bad link,” Solomon said.

On Tuesday at their regular meeting, the supervisors approved requiring the training for all county employees who use a county computer network.

“I think that this is a wise thing for all of us to do,” said Supervisor Linda Tjaden.

“It’s not going to take that much out of their time, and what they’re going to gain from that … to make sure we’re protecting our system … and to learn something for their personal use, too, I just really think this is a good thing,” she said.

Solomon said the county will provide basic information such as the employees’ names, their email addresses and their departments to the state-sponsored OCIO, then that office will use the information to craft fake phishing emails to the employees to see if they click on questionable internet links or provide information that shouldn’t leave the network.

The result will be a message back to the employees pointing out what they did correctly or incorrectly, as well as a report regarding which areas of internet security the county needs to focus on, Solomon said.

Employees would then get training, likely online, aimed at the areas where there are security concerns, he said.

Solomon said phishing email is increasingly sophisticated and difficult to detect unless a person knows what to look out for.

He said the county’s networks and email system are pretty well locked down to prevent outside tampering, but it only takes one person clicking on a bad link in a message to let an intruder in.

Also this week, the board decided to have the courthouse remain open to the public, despite increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases in the county.

Supervisor Chairman Roy Schwickerath said the county departments had made positive steps such as installing plexiglass screens between workers and customers, doing regular sanitizing and encouraging social distancing.

Supervisors Tjaden and Doug Kamm said they had been hearing mostly from people wondering when the Treasurer’s Office would open, and asked Treasurer Frank Rottinghaus to come down to the Monday workshop.

Rottinghaus said his office was still closed to walk-in traffic, but most of the business county residents have with his office can be done by appointment, online, over the phone or by mail.

He said he was also waiting to see if the governor would extend the exemption for renewing driver’s licenses and transferring vehicle titles beyond the current expiration date of June 25. On Thursday Gov. Kim Reynolds extended those provisions until July 25, but also advised they were unlikely to be extended beyond that.

“I think we’re doing pretty well meeting the needs of the public,” Rottinghaus said, adding that people can call his office if they have questions.

“There are public health concerns. If we open there would be a rush into the office — people standing closely, people passing in the halls, people riding the elevator,” he said.

“There are more people coming through that door than any other door in the courthouse,” he said, referring to his office where vehicle titles and transfers are processed, driver’s licenses are issued and renewed, and property taxes are paid.

“Anything I can do to keep my staff safe, anything I can do to help keep the public safe and still deliver most of the services, that’s my goal,” Rottinghaus said.

Also at the meetings this week, the board:

• Again discussed the need to get people to fill the county Planning and Zoning Commission and the county Board of Adjustment because of a new state law that required members of those county boards to live in the unincorporated areas of the county, as well as filling other county board and commission vacancies.

Erbe-Lines of rural Charles City was appointed Tuesday to the Planning and Zoning Commission, but one position is still open. There are two open positions on the Board of Adjustment.

The board also appointed Pamela Folz of Floyd to the Conservation Board and appointed David Boehmer of Charles City as the alternate member to the North Iowa Regional Housing Authority.

• Approved a three-year contract among the county, Charles City and AMR ambulance service to provide service to the city and within the county. (See separate story this issue.)

• Approved an agreement with the Northeast Iowa Food Bank of Waterloo to fund expanded food distribution in the area it covers, including Floyd County, using a $50,000 Community Development Block Grant that the county applied for and received on behalf of the food pantry.

• Went through a long list of end-of-the-year record keeping, policy approvals and other routine matters to get ready for the new county fiscal year that starts July 1.