This knowledge base article has several reminders around best practices for cyber security. These are practices are ones that you should try to adopt while using technology, both at work and at home.
Email Banners — Springfield Public Schools uses three types of email banners that will appear at the top your received emails that you should be mindful of.
If you see a red banner at the top of an email, that means it contains flagged words like "gift card" in it, which could indicate it's a potential phishing email. Treat these emails with caution and try to verify the sender.
If you see an orange email banner, that means the email did not come from the @springfieldpublicschools.com domain but from an unapproved outside domain or user. Treat these emails with caution as well if you do not recognize the sender.
If you see a green email banner, that means the email did not come from @springfieldpublicschools.com, but is coming from an approved domain or user. Even though they are trusted, you should still exercise caution with any the contents contain within the email message like web links or attachments.
Phishing Emails — If you receive an email asking you to do things like click a web link to change your password or enter sensitive information, be cautious. These types of emails can look like they are coming from a legitimate person or establishment by having things like the company's logo or other familiar content on it, but it can actually be an attempt by bad actors who are trying to steal information from you. If you come across an email like this, please do not click any web links, open/download any attachments, or respond to the sender. We recommend that you report the email and delete it from your mailbox. If you would like to follow up on the email, we recommend reaching out to the person or company to confirm that they did indeed send an email and which email address they sent it from.
Impersonating Emails — Bad actors will at times create email accounts in Gmail or Yahoo using the names of SPS staff members and then try to send emails asking to SPS employees for favors (like buying a gift card on their behalf or a donation). If you receive an email with the name of someone from SPS, but it looks suspicious (an official email from an SPS employee will have @springfieldpublicschools.com at the end of it), we recommend that you report the email and delete it from your mailbox. If you would like to follow up on the email, we recommend reaching out to the person to confirm that they did indeed send an email.
Restarting your Computer — You should restart your computer at least once a week to ensure your computer has the latest security updates installed. The “Restart” option can be found in the Start menu in the same place you would shutdown your computer from.
Shutting down your Computer — When you are not using your computer, you should shut it down (if you close the cover of your laptop, it will still remain connected to the Internet).
Personal files on your SPS Computer — We recommend against keeping documents with your personal information on your SPS computer. If you need to use your SPS computer to send documents, we simply recommend deleting them once you have sent them or no longer need them on your SPS device.
Resetting your SPS Account Password — If you believe you're a victim of a phishing attack, we recommend you reset your password immediately.
Thank you for your attention to these cyber safety recommendations and reminders