July 2023 - CORSA-broadcast

Business Email Compromise: The $43 Billion Scam
by Frank Hatfield Dec. 13, 2024

Dec. 13, 2024

Business Email Compromise/Email Account Compromise (BEC/EAC) is a sophisticated scam that targets both businesses and individuals who perform legitimate transfer-of-funds requests. The scam is frequently carried out when an individual compromises legitimate business or personal email accounts through social engineering or computer intrusion to conduct unauthorized transfers of funds. The scam is not always associated with a transfer-of-funds request. One variation involves compromising legitimate business email accounts and requesting employees' Personally Identifiable Information, Wage and Tax Statement (W-2) forms, or even crypto currency wallets. Losses associated with BEC scams quadrupled last year to an astonishing $43 Billion according to the FBI statistics below. Just last week about $4 million in federal funding intended for housing assistance in Kentucky was stolen after someone directed that money to a private bank account. (Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/29/politics/kentucky-4-million-cyber-theft/inde… ) "These types of attacks can be especially impactful to state and local governments that may do business with dozens, if not hundreds, or different vendors," Hassold, who is now director of threat intelligence at cybersecurity firm Abnormal Security, told CNN. FBI SUGGESTIONS FOR PROTECTION * Use secondary channels or two-factor authentication to verify requests for changes in account information. * Ensure the URL in emails is associated with the business/individual it claims to be from. * Be alert to hyperlinks that may contain misspellings of the actual domain name. * Refrain from supplying login credentials or PII of any sort via email. Be aware that many emails requesting your personal information may appear to be legitimate. * Verify the email address used to send emails, especially when using a mobile or handheld device, by ensuring the sender's address appears to match who it is coming from. * Ensure the settings in employees' computers are enabled to allow full email extensions to be viewed. * Monitor your personal financial accounts on a regular basis for irregularities, such as missing deposits. Source: FBI Public Service Announcement https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2022/PSA220504 CORSA is committed to keeping members informed of and protected against threats to their financial assets and systems. BEC and/or payment fraud is on the rise which creates considerable exposure to governmental entities, including CORSA members. Current technology provides sophisticated criminals the tools to create or alter checks or divert payments via BEC or social engineering. In addition to the FBI's above recommendations, CORSA strongly encourages members to enroll in the anti-fraud services Positive Pay and ACH Positive Pay. The Ohio Auditor of State also recommended enrolling in the above anti-fraud services to guard against check fraud. (See: Auditor of State Best Practices https://ohioauditor.gov/publications/bestpractices/best%20practices%20sept%…) Positive Pay is a service that essentially requires bank customers to provide their bank with a list of checks that are to be paid, while payment is withheld for any checks that don't match the customer's list. The ACH Positive Pay service allows a customer to set parameters on payments. For instance, payments that occur regularly with similar amounts can be set up to pay automatically, while any payments that fall outside normal transactions will be suspended until authorized. Most banks offer Positive Pay and ACH Positive Pay for a fee. In CORSA's experience fees vary, but customers are able to significantly lower fees through negotiation. Should you have questions regarding Positive Pay or ACH Positive Pay contact Thisbe Butcher at tbutcher(a)ccao.org<mailto:tbutcher@ccao.org> [Chart depicting Reported Loss Associated with BEC/Cryptocurrency Complaints for the years of 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.] Frank Hatfield CORSA Risk Manager fhatfield(a)ccao.org<mailto:fhatfield@ccao.org> 614-560-1474 614-220-0209 Fax www.corsa.org<http://www.corsa.org/> [cid:image002.png@01D8BD3E.0B6EC360] " The leader in providing Ohio Counties with exceptional value, service, and protection of assets." CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message (including any attachments) is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy this message and all attachments.

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Distracted Driving
by Frank Hatfield Oct. 5, 2023

Oct. 5, 2023

On April 4th Ohio's revised distracted driving law takes effect. Namely, use of a "handheld electronic wireless device" (aka cell phone) while driving a motor vehicle is now a primary offense. This means a driver may be pulled over solely for use of a cell phone. Ohio's roads are more hazardous than ever due in large part to distracted driving. According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, there have been nearly 62,000 distracted driving accidents (1,800 fatal) since 2018. https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/distracted-driving-law-in-ohio-goes-i… It is a good time to review and update your vehicle use policy to ensure compliance with the law, if necessary. There's a good chance your current policy is compliant as it likely contains catchall language such as: "employees who operate motor vehicles on the job shall comply with all applicable traffic laws." Nonetheless, it is wise to communicate to employees the change to Ohio's distracted driving law and issue/reissue to employees your vehicle use policy. You may also consider scheduling employees for in-person CORSA defensive driver training or online training at CORSA U. (See attached flyers). In-person and online training are at no cost to members. Please contact me with questions or if you need anything. Stay safe. Frank Hatfield CORSA Risk Manager fhatfield(a)ccao.org<mailto:fhatfield@ccao.org> 614-560-1474 614-220-0209 Fax www.corsa.org<http://www.corsa.org/> [cid:image001.png@01D9621F.24F64D90] " The leader in providing Ohio Counties with exceptional value, service, and protection of assets." CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message (including any attachments) is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy this message and all attachments.

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Freezing and Bursting Pipes
by Jim Hale Aug. 30, 2023

Aug. 30, 2023

As a pool CORSA has all too many high severity losses every year due to freezing and bursting pipes. In fact, freezing/bursting pipes in the aggregate accounts for much of our yearly property losses as a pool. Attached is some additional information on this all too common loss for our members. Extracted from the document: "Surprisingly, ice forming in a pipe does not typically cause a break where the ice blockage occurs. It's not the radial expansion of ice against the wall of the pipe that causes the break. Rather, following a complete ice blockage in a pipe, continued freezing and expansion inside the pipe causes water pressure to increase downstream -- between the ice blockage and a closed faucet at the end. It's this increase in water pressure that leads to pipe failure. Usually the pipe bursts where little or no ice has formed. Upstream from the ice blockage the water can always retreat back towards its source, so there is no pressure build-up to cause a break. Water has to freeze for ice blockages to occur. Pipes that are adequately protected along their entire length by placement within the building's insulation, insulation on the pipe itself, or heating, are safe." James Hale, ARM-P, ARM-E Risk Control Consultant County Risk Sharing Authority 209 East State Street Columbus, OH 43215 614.246.1630 FAX 614.220.0209

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Ohio EPA Presentation
by Jim Hale July 17, 2023

July 17, 2023

Attached is a copy of the presentation given to us at the Summer CLCCA meeting by Jeremy Scoles from the OHIO EPA. A big thanks to Dennis Harris, Ashland County Maintenance Superintendent/Risk Manager for putting together the meeting and forwarding the presentation! James Hale, ARM-P, ARM-E Risk Control Consultant County Risk Sharing Authority 209 East State Street Columbus, OH 43215 614.246.1630 FAX 614.220.0209 " The leader in providing Ohio Counties with exceptional value, service, and protection of assets." [cid:image001.png@01D9B88F.460C36E0] CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message (including any attachments) is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy this message and all attachments.

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Drone Policy
by Pamela S. Davis July 11, 2023

July 11, 2023

I am interested in any County's have a Drone Use Policy for purposes other than law enforcement that you would be willing to share. Our Auditor's office is considering using drones to capture photos of property for re-evaluations, etc. Thank you in advance for sharing. Thanks! Pam Davis Human Resources Muskingum County 740-588-4371

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Drug Policy
by Lori L Larson July 6, 2023

July 6, 2023

Good afternoon! I hope everyone is doing well! Do any of you actively exclude THC from your pre-employment drug screening tests as part of your drug policy? If so, could you please provide a copy of your policy & procedures? Thank you! I appreciate your time! Lori Larson, Risk Manager Ashtabula County Commissioners 25 West Jefferson Street Jefferson, Ohio 44047 Phone: 440-576-3649 Fax: 440-576-3502

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Risk Control Bulletin July 2023
by Tricia Callihan July 5, 2023

July 5, 2023

Hello all, please read the attached Risk Control Service Bulletin reminder regarding maintaining the monthly monitoring drivers list. If someone else maintains the drivers list for Samba, please forward this on to them. We have a lot of new people that are handling this function. Tricia Callihan CORSA Program Assistant Direct Dial - 614-220-7993 Cell Phone - 614-400-2088 Fax - 614-220-0209 "The leader in providing Ohio Counties with exceptional value, services, and protection of assets." [cid:image001.png@01D9AF18.41701280]

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