On May 3, 2017, many of Alliance High’s students and staff received a suspicious email. It was quickly announced that we were not supposed to open it and by the next day, we received another email stating that there was a new outbreak of spam emails going around. Our school isn’t the only one being affected by this attack, other districts such as Elkhorn, Millard, and Lincoln Publics Schools were also hit as well as schools all across the country. Despite this, schools were not the only victims, businesses and institutions received the email too.

If you have not already opened this email, there are precautions you can take to be safe and ensure your security. Heidi Manion, assistant girls’ basketball coach and educational technology specialist, stated, “Online security is just one part of digital citizenship that students need to be aware of.  If a person doesn’t know the sender of an email its wise to think twice before opening the email.  Check the entire email address and not just the name in the first section.  Sometimes it may look like someone you know, but the domain may be changed.  If you think it may be someone posing as a person you know contact the person directly to inquire if they contacted you.  Keep passwords secure for online activity.  It isn’t a secure practice to save passwords on the sites they are used on. The best practice is to type your username and password each time you login.  If you have trouble remembering your login information use a password keeper to store your passwords.”

They have yet to decipher where the emails have originated from, so be aware of what type of emails you have received or will be receiving. As a last bit of warning and advice, Manion warns the students and staff to be safe rather than sorry. If something doesn’t seem quite right, it’s not worth the risk. Remember to be safe about who you give your email and personal information to!