Will the phishing training and testing go away?  I feel like I’m paranoid about using email, I feel like I’m being tested all the time.

Answer:  It’s ok to be paranoid about it, you have to be – because the threat is real.   This school year alone, Iowa schools have reported 5 situations where staff members have had their bank accounts accessed because individuals released their private information to a phishing email scam.  You may have also seen on the news that several local for-profit and non-profit businesses have fallen to phishing scams, resulting in thousands of lost dollars.

The sad truth is that email phishing scams are working and the senders are now targeting non-profits and public schools because they are easier targets.  Unfortunately, this means we’ll see more training on the topic, not less.

Isn’t there a technology answer to solve this?

The best way to address the problem is training.   We encourage you to read the email carefully and consider what they are asking you to do….  does their request make sense?  Is there a way to confirm what they are saying through another source (can you call or email someone else to help confirm)?  Also take a look at who the sender is…  many phishing scams will come from generic accounts that don’t make sense.