Anonymous wrote:How come so many teachers fell for this?!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It was tacky and not a good look for fcps. It got Washington Post coverage:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/06/17/fairfax-schools-phishing-email-teacher-appreciation/
It’s blocked for those of us who don’t have an account.
Did FCPS IT send a fake email testing to see which teachers would click a link? I’m a teacher in another district. If that was it, I find it hard to believe anyone took an email from a superintendent with a gift card link seriously. The bizarre thing is if this was purposefully created by their own people. I don’t really understand this situation.
From the article:
"The district’s IT department periodically sends out fake phishing emails to test teachers and staff as a cybersecurity measure. It’s a common practice for companies to avoid staff falling prey to phishing, a type of online scam where bad actors send emails posing as a real organization to trick recipients into clicking a link or attachment.
Staff on the receiving end of a test email are expected to flag the email as a phishing attempt. Those who flag the email will receive a response for correctly identifying the scam, and those who follow the link are redirected to additional cybersecurity information to avoid attacks in the future.
Some teachers in Fairfax found the contents of the email to be a bit insensitive. David Walrod, president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, said the choice of language on the last day of school — when teachers are already tired — was not a good look."
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I'm surprised by how bothered other teachers get by these things. I saw it, laughed, deleted. I do my best to not fit the stereotype of the whining teacher.
Same. I saw it. The email address or something else didn’t seem right, so I reported as phish and moved on.
I did the same but understand why people are overall done and beyond bothered. Teachers aren't whining they are saying enough. No one is listening especially gatehouse.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m a bit shocked that so many people fell for it and then, rather than being properly embarrassed, started posting all over social media about how tired and under appreciated they are and how dare IT expect them to think before they click on the last day of school
I don't know anyone who fell for it. I certainly didn't. However, it did highlight the fact that my efforts are underappreciated, and I should immediately report and delete emails from fcps.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I'm surprised by how bothered other teachers get by these things. I saw it, laughed, deleted. I do my best to not fit the stereotype of the whining teacher.
Same. I saw it. The email address or something else didn’t seem right, so I reported as phish and moved on.
Anonymous wrote:I’m a bit shocked that so many people fell for it and then, rather than being properly embarrassed, started posting all over social media about how tired and under appreciated they are and how dare IT expect them to think before they click on the last day of school.
This is how hackers social engineer their way into systems, folks. They don’t take breaks. In fact, this is exactly something they would do. The gift card scam is one of the most common ones out there.
And IT departments are the ones that routinely have to deal with the problems caused by giving away your credentials to criminals, often over long weekends, when employees who fell for the scams are enjoying their BBQs and time off.
I know you teachers are overloaded, but please. This is my kid’s private data on the line. You have a responsibility as a user of a publicly funded email system to at least try to be diligent. No one is perfect but this is why IT are so targeted with these attempts. The criminals get better every single day and people don’t learn anything when it’s too easy.