& CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS
January 2018
BUILDINGTOGETHER
WE'RE THE HUMAN FIREWALL We all know that safety is number one to each of us at E&V. This month I want to touch on another type of safety that we all play an important role in – cyber safety. You most likely recall the occasional emails sent out to us with information and helpful tips to keep safe while navigating the internet or email. A couple of years ago, Elzinga & Volkers teamed up with a company called KnowBe4. This company specializes in security awareness training. Their philosophy is each company’s employees are the last line of defense against cyber criminals. KnowBe4 refers to each of us as the human firewall. Part of our job is to stop and think about attachments and links that have the potential to contain viruses. Every day the data in our network is at risk of being compromised. The accounting department experienced a scary situation with a cyber-criminal this past December. When everything was sorted out, we learned that one of our emails to a trade contractor was intercepted by the criminal. This person then set up a new email address posing as the trade contractor and another address posing as one of our project managers. They were then able to converse with us and with the trade contractor. They knew that we owed money to the trade contractor and even knew what day that money would be transferred.
Then, posing as the trade contractor, they sent us an “updated” electronic payment form with “new” bank account information. However, this bank account was in no way related to the trade contractor we were intending to pay. In this scenario, E&V could have lost $50k! I tell this story not to scare you, but to let you know that this type of situation can happen to any of us. Cyber criminals are inventing new and more sophisticated types of scams and viruses every day. I’ll close with a couple of tips we’ve put into practice in the accounting department. First, it never hurts to pick up the phone and call the person who sent you the suspicious email. If you’re not expecting an email from that person or especially if it has an urgent tone, be careful before opening any attachments. Second, you can always forward a suspicious email to Worksighted and they can look at it for you. As KnowBe4’s saying goes, “Think before you click!” You are E&V’s greatest asset in protecting us from cyber-crime.
Grace Silva Chief Financial Officer
Find something to improve.
Smart365 is an initiative that we spent a lot of time talking about at the Stakeholders meeting. In case you missed it, Smart365 is an Unmistakably E&V way to continuously improve. SMART stands for Simple, Meaningful, ARTful improvements that we can all make every day. These improvements can be anything that enhances the quality of work we do, saves time, saves energy or just makes a task more enjoyable. These changes can be related to your work or home life.
Document your improvement with a quick video from your phone. Share your improvements! Email your videos to: Smart365@elzinga-volkers.com
Check out the videos on EVinsite for inspiration! Don't forget: Bring your four ping-pong balls to February's safety meeting with your Smart365 improvement written on them.
Be rewarded!