It is an unfortunate reality that virtually all email users regularly receive phishing messages. An Oregon state worker fell victim to one such message last Friday. That user’s computer was hijacked and subsequently used to send over 8,000,000 spam messages over the weekend. The account sent so much spam that it caused major email services like Microsoft’s MSN/Hotmail/Live/Outlook.com to downgrade the reputation of oregon.gov email addresses, which essentially blacklisted messages from the state. The Oregon state government IT department is still working to remediate reputation damage from this incident.

It is important to always remain vigilant for email threats and scams. Don’t assume that your position means you won’t be targeted or that an account compromise just means you’ll just have to change your password. Any single GHC email account compromise can be used by criminals to attack other employee accounts, spread malicious software to college computers, or send spam across the Internet. Remember: when in doubt, throw it out!

More information about this story is available at: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/06/oregon_state_employees_unable.html