Passwords!*#$! Four Tips to Help Us All

What has at least six characters, special symbols, should be more complicated than Algebra II and is harder to remember than all that stuff that was on the grocery list?!

You guessed it, the password! These days, most of us have a million of them — for computers, websites, email accounts, cell phones, social media sites, the ATM, you name it.

And on top of having a million of them, they’re all supposed to be different, changed completely every few months and — at the same time — easy for us to remember and hard for bad guys to crack. Who can keep up (assuming you don’t want them tattooed onto your body)?

With all of this in mind, we thought you might like some password advice.

So here are a few general rules and a couple of ideas from two of our own County experts: 

• Longer = Stronger; The 8-4 Rule: We’re often given the option to create passwords with “at least” six characters. But experts say longer is stronger. While a standard six-character password creates roughly 140 million combinations to stymie hackers, an eight-character password boosts that to 645 trillion combinations. (Sources: Information Security Dictionary; Boston University Information Security and Technology)

• Many experts suggest following the “8-4” Rule. That is, make all passwords at least eight characters long; and make sure four of those characters include: one lower-cased letter, one capitalized letter, one number and one special character (!*$%). Many websites now enforce certain rules, but they’re a good idea anytime.

• Words Bad; Passphrases Good: Don’t use words — even if they’re in a foreign language. That dictionary on your desk only contains about 600,000 words, a number that any high-speed hacking computer could chew through in minutes. And don’t use names of people (especially your own) or places either. So if you can’t use words to make your password easy to remember, what can you do?

• Create a passphrase instead of a password. Take any sentence you’ll remember — like, “Man, I hate all this password stuff!” Now take the first letter of each word. And you have a passphrase: Mihatps. You can make that passphrase even stronger by mixing in numbers and special characters. Mihatps becomes Mih8atps! (Note: Try to avoid using common phrases, famous quotes and song lyrics.)

• Strong Memories: Obviously, memory is important when it comes to a password. It’s no good if you can’t remember it, right? Here’s a tip: don’t try to memorize a password, use your own memories to create one you can’t forget. David Lindsay, Group Information Technology Manager for the County’s Land Use and Environment Group, recommends using something that “makes you happy,” something that only you know and only you think about — something that isn’t related to any of your personal information “like your children’s names, street addresses, schools, etc.” — and then use derivations of that.

• Divide or be Conquered: Always make sure to use completely different user names and passwords for work and personal use. If you don’t, you’re completely exposed — on every level — if a hacker breaks your password. Mike Teays, the County’s Chief Information Security Officer, said people should really set up separate user names and passwords for their work accounts, their personal financial and health care accounts and their social media accounts if they have them. Teays said social media sites are “high targets for malicious actors.” Teays also suggested that people look to the Department of Homeland Security’s United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team website for more password security information.

'Wellness Wednesdays' Comes to County

To your Manic Mondays and Throwback Thursdays you can add Wellness Wednesdays.  Free health screenings will now be a regular mid-week opportunity available to all County employees at the Kaiser Kiosk.

You are invited to the private, walk-in medical booth for a biometric screening—a short health examination that includes blood pressure readings, glucose screenings, a measurement of your body mass index (BMI) and height and waist measurements. A one-on-one consult is also available with a nurse to discuss results that may be indicators of medical conditions.

Biometric screenings are being offered every Wednesday to all employees, regardless of insurance coverage, at the kiosk located on the second floor of 5530 Overland Ave. at the County Operations Center.

Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are highly recommended. Call 858-278-2802 or email sdcountyhealthspot@kp.org to schedule your visit.

The Department of Human Resources’ Employee Benefits Division said visiting the Kaiser Kiosk during Wellness Wednesday is just one way to get your biometric screening. You can also go to your own personal doctor.

An added bonus to getting the biometric screening is that it completes part of the Employee Wellness Incentive Program, which gives employees an extra $100 in their paycheck.

You must complete the following steps to receive the payout:

1. Have a nurse or physician at the screening facility sign a confirmation form. (*Note: If you are doing your screenings at one of the County locations, you can have one of the medical personnel sign your confirmation form.)

2. Go online to your provider’s website and take their online health risk assessment

3. Send in the signed confirmation form and the health risk assessment completion confirmation to Benefits at MS O-7

Wellness Wednesdays continues throughout the year. More details can be found on the Wellness website.

Wellness Expos Offering $4 Fair Tickets

Come out to celebrate your health at one of 11 Wellness Expos in May. The County is hosting the interactive events for employees at some of its largest worksites.

The fairs are focused on fun, fitness and nourishing nutrition. They include healthy snack samples, a farmers market stand, fitness gyms and more.

“Come out to get inspired,” said County Wellness Coordinator William Erese. “Learn how wellness can be fun.”

In addition to all festivities, there will be an opportunity to pick up San Diego County Fair vouchers good for $4 admission. There is a limit of four vouchers per employee, while supplies last.

View the complete Wellness Expo schedule (PDF).

Our True Bottom Line

You’re going to see something a little different when we roll out our Op Plan in a few days.

We’ll still run through all the key numbers. They’ll still show a balanced budget, even as it goes up 6 percent from last year’s to $5.4 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. As part of the presentation, we like to have a video that gives an overview of how we operate and highlights our recent accomplishments.

This year, that video will include a few clips of customers talking about services they received from the County. They’re regular San Diegans, explaining what we did for them.

We wanted to give them a place in the presentation, because in the end, they’re what it’s all about.

A few of those you’ll hear from include a family we worked with to make sure they have medical coverage. A library user. A military veteran we helped get needed services. They’re real people, sharing their stories in their own words. And their stories are our story.

The Operational Plan is full of figures, tables and charts. It takes a phenomenal amount of work to put together, and my thanks to everyone who’s been busting their tails to get it done. I know not all of you may find it quite the page-turner that I do, but I encourage you to give it a look. It is our playbook for the year ahead, and if you want to know what’s coming in your department, you’ll find it spelled out there.   

But we need to always keep in mind that every line item in there leads in some way to real lives out there in the community. Having the customers in the presentation connects how we do business with who we’re doing it for.

That connection is easier to see for those of you working directly with the public each day. You’re literally looking the customer in the eye, or hearing their voice over the phone.

Sometimes it’s less direct. The crews that maintain a County road don’t meet every person who drives on it. But every driver who has a smooth ride and gets home safely is a customer. 

That driver is also the customer of the Purchasing and Contracting staff who helped us buy asphalt and the General Services’ fleet team that takes care of the grader. I could keep going, but you see what I’m getting at. It’s a whole network of employees who have pieces of taking care of the customer.

Giving customers great service has long been part of our culture here at the County. But one of my priorities since coming to this job was to see how we could push it forward. A big part of that is just keeping the customer in mind at all times. You now see the Positive Experiences section on InSite, giving us regular reminders of how we make a difference in people’s lives. The employees deserve the recognition, and we all get an example of the real people we’re serving.

So that’s why we want to see a few of them in our Op Plan presentation as well. We’ve crunched the numbers and our books are in order. But we want to show that customers are always part of the equation. Fiscal discipline means being able to help more people, offer more services, make lives that much better. On our balance sheet, people are our true bottom line.