Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
All in Adams--Cybersecurity Month and Our New Website!
32 Plays10 days ago
In honor of October being Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Our Digital Media Specialist Joey Sykes chats with Information Technology & Innovation Deputy Director Jennifer Council and Systems Analyst & Technology Trainer Crystal Hoffner about the best ways to stay safe and secure on the web. The trio also discusses the new Adams County website (adamscountyco.gov) and its new features, including accessibility, an enhanced search tool, and more.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to All In Adams Podcast
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to All In Adams, the official podcast of Adams County government, where we're all in for our residents, our employees, and our community. So whether you live here, work here, or you just wanna know more about what makes Adams County a great place to be, thanks for tuning in.
00:00:21
Speaker
We're all in, Adams. Welcome back to the All in Adams podcast. I'm your host, Joey Sykes, digital media specialist with Adams County.
Launch of Adams County's New Website
00:00:28
Speaker
Over the past year and a half, I've had an incredible opportunity to work on and develop and help create the new website that you have probably seen AdamsCountyCo.gov.
00:00:40
Speaker
It's been a pleasure i'm just working on things from easier navigation to enhanced accessibility and stronger security. This site represents a major step forward in how we're going to serve our community and residents across the board.
Cybersecurity Month Highlights
00:00:54
Speaker
um And since October is Cybersecurity Month, we thought this was the perfect time to talk about how Adams County is working to make your online experience accessible and safer as well.
00:01:06
Speaker
um Joining me today is Jennifer Council, Deputy Director of Information Technology and Innovation, and Krystal Hoffner, Technology Business Partner Supervisor. I hope I got those right.
00:01:17
Speaker
Perfect. You did. Nice. ah Crystal is my partner in crime on this website too. So special shout out to her and special shout out to Jennifer just for everything that you both have been doing for for all of us.
00:01:28
Speaker
Appreciate it. Just to get going right into it too, with mentioned this is October, um cybersecurity month. And while most people think of this in terms of personal data or online shopping or sports, it's a huge focus for local governments too.
Importance of Cybersecurity for Counties
00:01:44
Speaker
Jennifer, why is cybersecurity so critical for counties like ours? At the end of the day, it's because we support the public. You know, we are here to keep data safe. So while you, you know, you discussed online shopping, personal data, it's all of those things.
00:01:58
Speaker
You know, we have products that we need that force us to go online. So we need to make sure that we are bringing them in, keeping them safe, knowing that when we bring that application in, that it meets every security parameter, really, that we check off and mark and check those boxes.
00:02:16
Speaker
When it comes to data, I think people often think that when I get compromised, when I click a link, it's only affecting me. At the end of the day, it's affecting a wide range of people up to our network.
00:02:29
Speaker
So putting in ah ah social security number, not a good idea, you know, redact that information, use the last four, four characters only that person can be identified that way, but not fully.
00:02:45
Speaker
And so it's,
00:02:48
Speaker
I think as a as a customer and as an accounting employee, when we are looking at our customers and getting their name, their address, their social security number, and all this information, we have to remember that we're not just affecting that one person.
00:03:02
Speaker
We're affecting everyone that may be related to them, as well as sometimes our other team members. So it's it's not just clicking on that malicious attachment. It's not just scanning a QR code.
00:03:14
Speaker
It's not just clicking on that link. It goes so far beyond that. um And so we are here to say, when you click if you do click on that link, because it's a win, it does happen every single day. We see it every single day.
00:03:27
Speaker
We're able to immediately stop that from moving further into the system. Yeah, that's incredible. And I think it's because we have an incredible staff here too. You know, I think across the board, Crystal, you know, everyone that you work with, Jennifer, everyone you work with, it seems like we're always just on our toes when something might happen and just being prepared for when it happens. You know, I think all the training that we do across the board for, for the County, for all of our employees here, it's, um,
00:03:53
Speaker
it's just a good lesson for everyone coming into the building. Yeah. it's it it's It's all starts with preparation. That's one of the keys to security is prepare, prepare, prepare so that we don't have to mitigate, mitigate, mitigate.
00:04:05
Speaker
Yes. I love that. I'm going to get that as a, maybe as a sticker for my laptop. Yeah. I think that's perfect.
Website Redesign for User Accessibility
00:04:14
Speaker
And that commitment to cybersecurity, right. And everything we do really is shaped how we approached our new web website too. Right. Yeah.
00:04:21
Speaker
I would say, you know, we're working with, you know, working with our developers, working with people in our offices. um We really tried to hammer that home on the back end too. So would you kind of agree with that, Crystal?
00:04:33
Speaker
Definitely. Yeah. It's all about keeping what we do safe and secure so that we present to the public a safe and secure website. I love that. Yeah, think we we have a lot of things on our website too, just from checking, like, even if from accessibility too, which is not necessarily cybersecurity, but um having letting people know that this is accessible for you going forward.
00:04:55
Speaker
For sure. You know, one of the great things I think about this this new website too, especially like operating on the back end, is
00:05:05
Speaker
It keeps the information secure, but doesn't bog people down when they visit the site too. So, you know, from the beginning when the website was designed with our community of mine, you know, Crystal, can you tell me a little bit about approaching, how we approach creating this website to work the way people actually think and use a website rather than the way the government is structured?
00:05:22
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. We were, um so when we kicked off this project, this website redesign, we, ah first step is we got a bunch of people in a room and we said, what do you want to see?
00:05:33
Speaker
What is important to you? Where would you go to find it? I think actually, Joey, weren't you... fairly new. was within a month. Yeah. And so, and that was a great, you were a great resource.
00:05:45
Speaker
We had other, a few other newer people that also were like, I would never know to go look at the assessor's office for that information. because you don't know which department to go to and things like that.
00:05:58
Speaker
so we really brainstormed, what are you looking for? And what might you categorize that under? So that's where we came up with that businesses and resident section.
00:06:08
Speaker
If you're a new resident, what are you looking for from the county? What information, where do you go to find that? Then we have the services category, which we did that based on analytics. We went out and we said, okay, what are people searching for?
00:06:22
Speaker
um and we created these different categories and sections to address those questions. Now, because I'm ah long-term employee, I've been here for a while,
00:06:35
Speaker
I really like that, our county, and that was important to me to keep that because there are people out there that do know, I go to the assessor for this. I go to the treasurer for this. This is the clerk and recorder. And we do have a few residents. I've had a few calls that say, I'm glad you kept that because I know that if I'm looking for information on marriage licenses or whatever, I go to the clerk and recorder.
00:06:56
Speaker
um You know, planning and development. I know that CED. I know to go there. So just keeping that our county area also allowed people to go to that section.
00:07:08
Speaker
So we really thought a lot about where people were going, where we hoped we knew they were going, what they were looking for, that kind of stuff. Obviously, we make mistakes. We don't know what everybody's thinking.
00:07:20
Speaker
But we did try artists. We had a great time just, you know, it was a whole morning, didn't we spend? i think just but It might have been a whole day. i think it was a whole day. Just brainstorming. Yeah. yeah So we did a lot of, you know,
00:07:31
Speaker
And we did come back to it from time to time. um Just as a group, we had ah a smaller group also that we worked really hard. I know trying to, is this right? Is that right?
00:07:42
Speaker
So. Yeah. There was a lot of crumble cookies that we ate to celebrate milestone that we got to for this website. But I'm glad you brought up me being new when I first started, because just to give a background, I came from, you know, the sports world too. So obviously worked on the website for,
00:07:59
Speaker
past couple sports teams too, but that was rather, that was like two things, you know, that people were looking for was news and how to buy tickets, right? And maybe you look at the roster of a sports team. For this, when I came in, right, and I still sometimes ask the wrong department if this, you know, PDF should go in here or this, you know, what website this should go on, assessor and treasurer, I think are probably, um they get a lot of emails from me too, as I'm still trying to learn, but I think it was, i think it was super beneficial to have like those kinds of meetings and really and how a county works. And I didn't realize how many facets we touched, you know, across the board, um which I thought was really cool. And I think that's the best thing about this website is just we can find there's so many different ways like the
00:08:43
Speaker
navigation, um and then especially the breadcrumbs too. so Love the new breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs, to give a little bit more detail what those are, is when you're on a website, you can see exactly how you got to that page via number of links and number of texts over there too. So it's a definitely a unique way to go back without having to click the back button. And it's it's right there at your fingertips and you just know where you are at all times, which I think is a big step up.
00:09:10
Speaker
website Most definitely. And we have a very robust search engine now, so that works well and hopefully everybody's using it. Yeah. i Trust me, like it's the I think people are shocked too when they go to the website to find and they're like, oh this search engine is excellent.
00:09:26
Speaker
i can I found exactly what I'm looking for rather than maybe something years ago. um Yeah, I think it's just with with all the technology nowadays too, we're in a unique place to make things better. Yeah.
00:09:38
Speaker
And we did take this opportunity to clean up a lot of old stuff. So hopefully there's not a lot of old stuff out there. we cleaned out the attic this time. So it's a good, a good clean sweep. Doesn't see a PDF from 2016. Exactly. 2016 seems like it was a year ago, but then you're like, oh, it's almost 10 years ago. long time. Almost. You're right. I know. 10 years. And honestly, you know, retention is an important part of security when it comes down to it, because if we have old data,
00:10:05
Speaker
we're still putting we're putting ourselves more at risk yeah still.
Data Storage Solutions in Adams County
00:10:08
Speaker
um So by removing that on a constant basis over a certain period of time, we're helping to keep more data even that much more secure. for sure Remove the old stuff.
00:10:19
Speaker
I'm glad you brought that up just because when it comes to all the data we have on this, not just our site, but the past site too, you know, there's things that we're still keeping um on board. I was always interested in how we house that data for, and like how we keep that secure too. Is it on servers here at the government center or anywhere else across the board?
00:10:40
Speaker
Something that we're not supposed to talk.
00:10:46
Speaker
you know we We do have data centers. um um I'm not going to say where they are, but first we do have data centers both in the cloud as well as on-prem. um So all of that data is stored um and backed up.
00:11:01
Speaker
So while it may not be, while it's accessible to the website, if someone wants something from years ago, It's in a place where we can actually access it. For sure. So it's kind of cool.
00:11:11
Speaker
Yeah. Honestly, especially I love data centers. That's so cool. I love when people are passionate about these things too. Cause it's like, yeah, I think that's really cool. it's It's all the flashing lights. I used to call our UPSs the Krakens.
00:11:23
Speaker
had a previous employer just because they were literally, the brand was Krakens. So I would just be like, release the Krakens when, sorry. That's really nerdy. That's movie reference for those of you who have no idea. I love nerdy jokes, trust me. Crystal knows I'm a big Star Wars fan, so you know how goes. Yeah, I typically had to Google what Joanne and Brian were referencing in their movie things.
00:11:46
Speaker
I don't know. Yeah. I think that's what we've made a good team. We did. We had a great I think too, another thing that like people might not find as like initially exciting, but something that we got really into over the past year was accessibility. Right.
00:12:03
Speaker
So with ADA, a um just to kind of explain a little bit behind the scenes of that um with house bill 1100, I saying that right, Crystal? HB 211110. Yes.
00:12:16
Speaker
um Requiring all digital content to be accessible online.
Accessibility Features of the New Website
00:12:20
Speaker
So that was big moment for us to realize, okay, we're doing something good by making our content accessible and thinking about how residents are going to view um our content online and flint figure out how it's accessible too. So I'll ask maybe both of you, Crystal and Jennifer, what does it really mean to have accessible website technology?
00:12:44
Speaker
I think of screen readers um as part of it. Our website makes someone able to use a screen reader without having everything blocked. yeah If you are hearing impaired, there are items there now that will assist with audio items because we do have a lot of audio items on there. You know, it can be something as, I think as robust as having the ability to increase the print, um,
00:13:09
Speaker
As, and as minute, as like you said, having those breadcrumbs to follow for some people, they, they need that history there, yeah you know? um We also really tried to... I learned a lot about accessibility in this project, and something that we don't think about um is the cognitive experience. If you have pages that are overwhelmed with content, people have a hard time digesting that information.
00:13:36
Speaker
So by we tried to clean up a lot of that. um Government is very wordy. We have a lot of words. We have a lot of text. You know, people...
00:13:47
Speaker
I myself, I get lost, you know, two or three, four paragraphs in and I'm like, what? I'm over reading all this. So we really tried to simplify a lot of that.
00:13:58
Speaker
Jennifer's right. We did a lot so that screen readers could go through, identify things as headings, text, graphs, things like that. Pictures, all pictures should now have alt text.
00:14:10
Speaker
So again, those screen readers can pick up that stuff. ah Just some you know simple things. As I get older, you know you got to hold the paper back and closer and a lot of color contrast, simple fonts to help things become clear.
00:14:24
Speaker
We just really wanted to have a good experience for everyone, but also accessible to everyone. um I think that, you know, most definitely with the cleaning of the pages, the text, the colors, we have a really good accessible website.
00:14:42
Speaker
It's also, I can tell you from past experience, I'm going to say 10 times better than what it was before on a mobile device. You pull up and and the majority of people that are interacting with our website are using mobile technology, tablets, phones, tablets,
00:15:01
Speaker
um the the people that are using laptops are the employees and people and probably in other governments, the occasional user at home. But most folks are on their tablets, phones, and this new website is such a great mobile experience, so much better than our old one.
00:15:19
Speaker
And honestly, it's very vibrant. You know, I mean, i don't know how many web pages we go to that I'm going to say local government has and federal government has that are just in black and white. I personally get very bored by black and white.
00:15:31
Speaker
I will lose myself very quickly in trying to find information and oftentimes get so distracted that I forgot what I was looking for because I'm trying to wade through that black and white. yeah Having it color-coded the way we do, honestly, has made it that much more of an enjoyable experience.
00:15:47
Speaker
But in addition to that, with the accessibility, people can feel, when it comes to security-wise, people can feel comfortable pulling up their data and knowing that it's safe, knowing that it's there, pulling up their tax information,
00:16:02
Speaker
Pulling up previous ownership information without having every aspect of that person's property revealed, but being able to get the property information that they need.
00:16:13
Speaker
So, you know, all of those things were taken into consideration when this website was made. Yeah, it's welcoming in that color contrast and it's professional too, you know, and I think that just helps us build the trust with Adams County residents and, you know, rest of Colorado too. I think we're going to, you know, have people see our website and, you know, look forward to it. So, um, kind of just shifting the focus a little bit, but kind of staying on the cybersecurity portion of this.
Cybersecurity Tips for Residents
00:16:40
Speaker
Um, but Jennifer, with this being one of your specialties too, what do our residents need to know about cybersecurity in their daily lives? And what are some steps that they can take today to improve their online security?
00:16:51
Speaker
Everything. Yeah. I love it. Everything. You know, we, we are being inundated between social media. So Adams County has an Instagram presence, a LinkedIn presence, um Facebook presence. So knowing that with our changes,
00:17:08
Speaker
knowing who you're getting information from. So if I go to, i'm going to say like, mean economic development, um what is our actual domain? So that if I get an email from Gmail, but it has an Adams County signature, for an example, that didn't really come from Adams County. Right.
00:17:26
Speaker
employee. It didn't come from anyone that you were working with in government and stopping right there before you move forward. yeah You know, if you get a text, did you sign up for text messages?
00:17:37
Speaker
Were you informed by the team that you were working with that you may receive a text message? If not, are you able to go to our website and find our phone number to find more information? We have to not be afraid to use phones, but on that same note, email, email, email, email Text messages.
00:17:55
Speaker
You're going to be inundated by all kinds of people that are looking for your information. So know the source. Truly. Change your passwords.
00:18:06
Speaker
And if you get something and you know that you've been able to access that site online, um I'll use the DMV as an example, you have to have a login for the DMV. So if the DMV sends you something, instead of clicking on that link that came through your your cell phone, go to the website and log in directly.
00:18:24
Speaker
You know, verify, verify, verify, and change your password. Yeah. You know, don't make heart cycle it simple. It is, you know, it is the hard part, but some of my passwords are 24 to 30 characters long. That is not most people. I recognize that. But we say in the county, use past phrases to make it easier. um And I'll say something like, I love Adams County, Colorado, and change all those O's to zeros.
00:18:51
Speaker
Change the eye to an exclamation point. um Make it easy for yourself, but something that's easy for you to remember that someone else is going to have a very hard time guessing. yeah The more complex we make it, the easier it is for the harder, pardon me, it is for someone, a nefarious actor to get into your, to your information.
00:19:11
Speaker
For sure. And we we do that same with our with our employees here too. Absolutely. We have practices in place. Absolutely. 12 characters of us, is it? 16. 16 now. we are like i knew mine was long. I just didn't know how long it was. 16 characters, but don't be afraid to make it longer. We don't have a limit. We just have a minimum. ah For sure. you know But you know with our employees, I always say to people when something does happen, and like I said, it's inevitable that something happens, but I always say,
00:19:39
Speaker
a Look at what you've done. I like to discuss it with people. You know, what happened? What was point A, point B, point C? I always tell people, don't check your email when you're in a hurry.
00:19:52
Speaker
Because that's the time that you're going to miss something. Yep. You are most likely to miss something when you're in a hurry and ask yourself the questions. Am I expecting this? Yeah. If you're not and you know the source, send them a different email and verify it or pick up the phone. Even better yet, pick up the phone and call them.
00:20:11
Speaker
Yeah. We can't be afraid to pick up the phone. um But internally, report the email. The security team has protocols in place already that if you report an email that is potentially malicious, we look at every one of those emails, like quite literally.
00:20:27
Speaker
But our system also assists us in saying, okay, this is a bad email, and then we can go do more work on it. Or on the... Other hand, if there's nothing wrong with this email, we'll send it back to you. Yeah.
00:20:41
Speaker
You know, um we have security guards in place to help, but our Adams County employees are our first line of defense without a doubt.
00:20:51
Speaker
Use that trusty fish hook. Yep. Yep. For sure. Use it. Yeah. Fish alert button's a great thing. it's It's colorful. Yeah, exactly. I always get excited when I get a chance. colorful. And I get right for getting the, you know, the testing. Yeah, congratulations. You know, you use it and don't be afraid to overuse it because there's there's really no such thing as overuse.
00:21:12
Speaker
it It is part of what the security team does. Yeah. Just... And I think for people in residence and also employees, be aware of those things that come through us in text messages.
00:21:23
Speaker
Because a lot of times you'll get something and you'll think, well, why, what is this? Why am I getting this? Especially in a text message. You didn't ask for it. Like Jennifer said, question it. Definitely. For sure.
00:21:35
Speaker
and love that. Maybe my hardest question of the day, what did I miss? And what would you guys like to add? Whether it's about the website and cybersecurity, anything across the board.
00:21:49
Speaker
Be curious. I love it. Yeah. You know, um i think with this age of technology that we are in, we have the ability to go out there and find so much information.
00:22:00
Speaker
If you have questions, look it up. But again, I'm also kind of older, so I am not above using the phone for show for references. And if i if I'm having trouble finding something for whatever reason, I'm Pick up the phone and let us lead you there. You know, there, there is help.
00:22:19
Speaker
Every department knows about their web pages. So if there's something that assessor's office or the tax office, that assessor's office, pardon me, can help with, or the DMV can help with, they can lead you to where it is on the website just as easily so that you can minimize the amount of time that you spend on there.
Encouraging Feedback from Listeners
00:22:35
Speaker
But, you know, go out there and find the information because it's there.
00:22:39
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I would definitely agree. Explore, explore, explore that new website. Go out, find stuff. And honestly, it's new. If you don't find what you're looking for, send us your feedback. yeah Tell us, this is missing.
00:22:55
Speaker
I can't find this. Where do I go for this? that helps you That helps us help you, and you're helping us. We can go out, fix the mistakes, put the information out there if it's not.
00:23:06
Speaker
Maybe it's buried too deep. Maybe we need to bring it up a couple times. levels Hopefully it's not too far down there, but definitely please give us your feedback. You're not going to hurt our feelings. You know, we will go out there and fix it.
00:23:19
Speaker
We've got a punch list just like every new house. We can go out there and and fix those items that are broken or missing. Yeah. I love that.
00:23:30
Speaker
Well, thank you both for joining me today and just helping make Adams County's digital front door more accessible, secure, and welcoming than ever before. You can check out the new website at AdamsCountyCo.gov.
00:23:42
Speaker
And throughout October, too, check out our social media sites for more cybersecurity tips and resources to help you and keep your information safe online. Like Crystal and Jennifer said, just explore. Don't be afraid just to even ask questions because we are here for you to help answer those as well.
00:23:56
Speaker
ah You can find us on Facebook and X at Adams County Co. Or Adams County Gov, excuse me. And on Instagram at Adams County Co. And on LinkedIn at Adams-County.
00:24:08
Speaker
For Crystal Hoffner and Jennifer Council, I'm Joey Sykes. And thank you for tuning in to All in Adams. That's a wrap for this episode of All in Adams. Thank you for joining us as we explore the people, programs, and the policies that make Adams County a great place to live, work, and thrive.
00:24:24
Speaker
If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and share with your friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Have a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know. We're all in for bringing you the stories that matter most.
00:24:35
Speaker
Until next time, take care of each other and stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, and X. We're all in, Adams, and we're all in for you.