Cybersecurity can be a scary subject. We get it. It’s daunting and something you just want to ignore in hopes that nothing bad will happen to you.

Sorry friend, this subject is all TOO real to ignore. But we’re here. We got you.

We want to give you the knowledge to protect yourself from phishing attacks, ransomware, and other online scams. So here we go! But to start, a chilling reminder of our recent past:

• June 2018, MyHeritage—more than 92 million email addresses and HyHeritage account passwords were compromised.
• April 2018, The Facebook data breach—this was one of the largest misuses of personal data in history! In fact, just last month, Facebook revealed that 15 MILLION people had their personal info accessed by hackers.
• March 2018, Under Armour’s MyFitnessPal App—an “unauthorized party” gained access to 150 million user names, emails, and encrypted passwords from users of the fitness tracking app.
• July 2017, Equifax data breach—a quick calculation tells us that the 143 million potentially affected makes up a full 44 percent of the country’s total adult population.
• May 2017, WannaCry ransomware attack—this attack will go down in the books as one of the most successful malware campaigns in history.

So yeah, now more than ever you need to be educating yourself about how preventive cybersecurity strategies can keep you safe in a digital world of malicious criminals and hackers.

Cybersecurity awareness tips

1. Enable two-factor authentication
   1. This will make it harder for someone to access any of your accounts.
   2. This added layer of security can make a big impact.
2. Check a website’s SSL Certificate before using
   1. This will ensure the website is safe to use.
   2. Beware—hackers can copy a safe site if you click on a malware link. For example, links found in phishing emails.
3. Never save credit card information online
   1. This is a great basic tip to keep your bank account information secure.
   2. If that site is ever compromised, your card information will be, too.
4. Up your password game
   1. Think of a long password (10+ characters). Using a sentence instead of random letters is much more efficient. For example: eattacosonthe9th!!
   2. Never use the same password on different accounts.
   3. Never write down your passwords and store in a Word file; use password vault software instead.
5. Think twice before clicking an email link
   1. Not all links are created equal. Some seemingly safe links can wreak havoc.
   2. Phishing emails are becoming harder to detect. Look into social engineering training.

These basic tips can help you, your employees, and your business stay more protected when using your computer.

Emerald City Solutions is an information security company offering high-grade, professional IT business solutions using cutting-edge technology to help our customers modernize their business, protect valuable assets, and improve business connectivity. For more tips and tricks, check out Emerald City Solutions’ weekly blog or give them a call at 206.340.1616 to learn more about IT and cybersecurity services for your business.

By MBAKS Marketing Coordinator Chancellor Wallin

In decades past, public health crises brought to mind a very different picture than what’s painted today. Before shelter-inplace, school closures, and social distancing, the most serious threats facing the American public existed outside our homes.

Now, a new set of risks have emerged.

If the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it was how to spend a lot of time with the most important person in each of our lives—ourselves. While we were stuck at home in a world with an uncertain future, the pandemic brought with it an unintended side effect: an increase in the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse disorders worldwide.

MBAKS community partner Valley Cities Behavioral Health Care knows this better than anyone. Jessica Forshee, clinic manager of the Kent branch, described how the past two and half years changed their operations.

“Our clinics never closed throughout the pandemic. While our care became accessible and flexible with telehealth, it also flooded. The past two years have been a constant balancing act between supporting our staff and clients. But we never closed our doors.”

Established in 1967, Valley Cities is a nonprofit organization that has been providing care to people of all ages for over 50 years. With a dozen clinics scattered all over the greater Seattle area, Valley Cities offers comprehensive outpatient and inpatient treatment in direct response to the changing needs of the communities they exist in.

Today their services include licensed mental health care counseling and substance use disorder treatment, outreach to unhoused and displaced members of our community, and specialized care that delivers counseling and family support to veterans and their loved ones.

At the core of their philosophy is the belief that the resiliency and strength of the human spirit can overcome the obstacles that confront the people who walk through their doors or dial in to their phone lines. But, unlike many traditional mental health care providers, their belief in a holistic approach supports individuals in reaching their highest potential.

Working collaboratively with over 25 community partners, Valley Cities is integral to the King County mental health care system. They believe recovery is a road with many different exits and that every patient has different needs and obstacles—and understanding these is key to providing care that works.

Rejecting prescriptive treatment means some of their services aren’t what you’d expect. Resume building, professional development, and community connections all make the list. This intersectional approach means that behavioral health treatment doesn’t always entail therapists and prescriptions. It’s not enough to cure someone of their depression or anxiety if their environment is cultivating bad or unsafe habits and behaviors.

Valley Cities comprises teams of nurses, grant writers, and case workers—talented professionals from all different backgrounds with a singular purpose: helping give back to our community. These passions aligned in the fall of this year to forge yet another community partnership: MBAKS’ Painting a Better Tomorrow.

Jessica explained, “It’s important to make our clients feel like our space is welcoming, soothing, and calming so they feel safe enough to access care. That’s exactly why we looked for programs and grants to create spaces of belonging.”

Built in the 1990s, the Kent clinic is one of Valley Cities’ most prominent offices— servicing the entirety of south Seattle with the biggest capacity and staff the organization has to offer. Over the years, the priority has been on keeping their care accessible and open; cosmetic and decorative repairs, while necessary, fell to the wayside.

That’s why on November 5, MBAKS staff, members, and volunteers took to the walls of the Valley Cities Kent office to provide a fresh coat of paint— and a promise. While our means may be different, for a moment, our ends aligned for the same goal—Caring about the people around us. And that’ll be a promise worth keeping.

Interested in learning more about the Valley Cities mission? Whether you’d like to donate, volunteer, or be a part of others’ recovery journey, Valley Cities is always looking for those passionate about the cause. There’s a multitude of ways to help, just as Valley Cities believes there are many ways to care. Learn more at valleycities.org/volunteer.

Five Key Things to Know About Washington’s New Sick Leave Law

By Larry Dickinson, PrimePay

In 2006, the City of San Francisco passed the first mandatory sick leave law in the country. Since then, many other states and municipalities have adopted similar statutes. In fact, 47 states and the District of Columbia have considered establishing such ordinances to help protect the wages of employees affected by illness, injury, or domestic violence.

1. Washington law—the basics

   In November 2016, voters in Washington state voted to establish a mandatory sick leave law for workers in their state. Starting in January of 2018, all employees covered under the Washington State Minimum Wage law must accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked.

   This law applies to all employers, even if they only have one employee. The problem is that many large cities in Washington such as Seattle and Tacoma have also adopted their own sick leave measures, and these measures are not always in sync with the state law.

   What is the employer to do? We will attempt to highlight some of the differences between state law and those of the municipalities. Note that we are using Washington state as the example here; the same scenarios are playing out in other states around the nation.

2. Allowable uses of sick leave

   According to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, employees will be allowed to use sick leave for themselves or a family member for these reasons:

• To care for themselves or family members.
• When the employees’ workplace or their child’s school (or place of care) has been closed by a public official for health-related reasons.
• Absences that qualify under the Domestic Violence Leave Act.

Note that employers may allow employees to use paid sick leave for additional purposes.

Unlike the laws adopted in Tacoma and Spokane, the Washington state regulation does not cover bereavement due to the death of family members.

3. Family member definition

Washington allows the usage of paid sick leave for personal illness or injury as well as for family members defined below:

• Child
• Parent
• Spouse
• Grandparent
• Grandchild
• Sibling
• Registered domestic partner

The big difference here is that Washington state allows that the child relationship is enforced regardless of the age of the child, while the city regulations only cover children up to the age of 18.

4. Accrual of sick time

   In general, employees must earn a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. This covers all non-exempt employees covered by the Washington State Minimum Wage Law. There is currently no coverage for exempt workers, including white collar workers, outside salespeople or other professionals.

   In many of the local regulations, white collar workers are covered with the assumption of a flat 40-hour work week. Seattle law, as an example, covers all workers who work in the City of Seattle. While the new state law applies to all employers with even one employee, local laws can be applied differently depending on the size of the company. There is currently no cap on the number of hours earned each year by an employee. There is a cap on the number of hours that can carry over into the next year.

   Read a full list of FAQs.

5. What should your business do?

   In today’s business climate, employers are often confronted with conflicting city and state ordinances regarding sick leave accrual and usage. These laws and their differences can provide today’s small business owner with a nightmare.

   How do you apply different laws to different groups of employees with different job descriptions, working in different jurisdictions? An automated time and attendance system is a great option.

   PrimePay offers a variety of systems to meet any employer’s needs. These programs can define almost any type of accrual policy imaginable and apply those policies to different groups of employees based on geography, employee type, or job description. Let the professionals at PrimePay build a system that will keep you in compliance for years to come.

Learn more at primepay.com.

This article originally appeared on primepay.com.