What Is Smishing and Phishing? The Rising Cybersecurity Threat to Public Organizations

Cyberspace has its fair share of bad faith actors. Hackers employ advanced tools to access unauthorized data, commit fraud, and even siphon millions of dollars. These scammers and schemes have been a problem since the early days of the internet, and they are only getting more sophisticated.

Navigating the landscape of FOIA and open records laws in the U.S. can be complex, especially when it comes to digital records.

The government is responsible for drafting laws, but it is never above them.

Regulated industries like financial services, healthcare, and public service rely on social media to inform and engage their communities — but this reliance brings legal and compliance challenges. Institutions in regulated industries face immense scrutiny, which means they must have well-thought out policies to manage social media security risks.

Saying official communications belong in the public record is simple. Following through is far more complex. Just consider all the channels that today’s public agencies and government officials use. The sheer volume of data existing in platforms like MS Teams, Slack, and social media profiles has given compliance officers a lot to think about.

Government agencies today are facing unprecedented pressure to do more with less. Recordkeeping teams, responsible for critical functions like responding to open records requests and FOIA compliance, are increasingly challenged by staff reductions and the ever-growing volume and complexity of digital records.

If you work in public sector communications or with government social media accounts, you know firsthand that social media is becoming a more divisive, controversial, and toxic space.

How do Federal agencies like NASA, the Department of Education, and the Department of Homeland Security capture and manage social media records?

With the rise of social media, individuals have become increasingly comfortable sharing personal information online. However, this has also made them susceptible to social media impersonation, a growing phenomenon that can lead to identity theft and other online fraud. Impersonators can easily create fake profiles and use stolen personal information to deceive others. They may use this information to gain access to private accounts or even steal money.

In the always-on, hyper-connected digital age, you'd think it would be relatively straightforward to produce records for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or open records requests, but it can be incredibly labor intensive, time-consuming work — especially when the relevant records could span across various platforms like email, social media, websites, or Microsoft Teams.