BLUE EARTH — Faribault County commissioners on Tuesday discussed cybersecurity and how to handle suspicious emails.

Midwest IT Systems security specialist Ben Geddis attended their meeting to review security protocols.

“Ransomware is on the rise,” he said. “And counties are highly targeted.”

He went on to give a basic explanation of how ransomware works.

“If hackers are able to get into your information, they encrypt it so you are unable to use it,” Geddis said. “Then they will contact the person who had the account they hacked and offer to remove the encryption for a sum of money.”

He gave board members a sheet with a list of social engineering red flags.

“Some of the things to look for is if the sender’s email address is from someone you do not normally communicate with,” he explained. “And it is not a good idea to open any attachment you were not expecting. The only file type which is always safe to click on is a .txt file.”

Geddis said changing passwords at least once a year is also a good idea.

In other business, Commissioner Greg Young reported the audit of the Prairieland Solid Waste Facility in Truman had gone well and morale at the plant is high. Young said the Prairieland board is happy with the job Billeye Rabbe does as solid waste coordinator.