Current projects IT is working on

HCSS

• Heavy Job – HCSS completed a request we had to create a “Daily Work Order” report that replaces a lot of the manual backup for invoicing.  Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.  

At this time Offshore Wind, Transmission, NE Distribution, Matting, Drilling, and O&R Gas crews are using Heavy Job.  Next roll out will be with Substation and Electrical Teams.

• Heavy Bid – Going well – They is a weekly meeting with people using Heavy Bid to reinforce training and best practices.

P DRIVE MIGRATION – The server configuration on the P Drive is approaching technical limits.  We are in the process of migrating folders to the new servers.

We are creating “segmentation” between folders.  There will be an Operations segment, a Government segment, a Shared Services segment, and a Public segment.  IT will be meeting with each Shared Service and Functional area prior to each migration.

We will also be going through a process to clean up the Public Folder.  If folders are not identified and are assigned ownership, they will be archived and removed from the Public Folder.  The planned date for this is January 31st, 2025.

CYBERSECURITY – With the increase in capabilities of AI (Artificial Intelligence), the creation of “synthetic profiles” is becoming more sophisticated.  Advances in use of AI for video and audio have made an actual video almost indistinguishable from one created with AI.  Hackers know this and will continue to exploit technology.  

Be aware of Social Engineering attempts.  Hackers will attempt to create a sense of urgency or create an emergency in order to get you to respond.

Tax season will be upon us very soon and this is something that hackers will use through “Social Engineering“.  You may start to see emails and receiving calls from people claiming to from the IRS.  The IRS will not call or email you; they send correspondences through certified mail.

From a Cyber Security perspective, social engineering is the psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. Hackers are taking every advantage they can knowing that there will be billions spent by people shopping online and that people are busy and easily distracted during the holidays.

An example of this is an email stating that there is legal action against you and you need to respond immediately. Hackers are taking advantage of the emotional response someone may have to this so that they respond to the email or comply with what is being requested (i.e. provide your mobile number, login credentials, passwords, etc)

• Be wary of any email from a known or unknown source that has “Immediate Attention”, “Your response required ASAP”, “Immediate Action Required”, etc.
• If you have worked with the person in the past, call them to verify the email
• If you see an email that has a generic greeting and it was sent to you bcc, be very suspicious and escalate to IT
• If you see an email that is sent to several people and it seems to be generic in nature, escalate to IT
• If you have not worked with the person in the past, escalate to IT
• If you are not expecting and email from someone you do not know, there is a high probability that it is a phishing email or an attempt to gain access to our network.
• When in doubt, escalate to IT.  Do not click on any links or respond

CYBERSECURITY QUESTIONNAIRES – The only one we have pending right now is Exelon.  We just received it last week and will complete it well before the 9/30 deadline.  Each one we receive, they are becoming more extensive.  Just five years ago, Exelon’s was about 15 questions; today, it is about 200 questions.  The efforts we are taking to become CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) for DoD work is benefiting us with all of our other customers.

EPC WORK – Will start looking at things we are currently using (Aconex, ESUB) and others that people have used before (Procore) for a project/document management system.

AP Automation: AP Express

You can log into AP Express at any time and check the status of your invoices: https://riggsdistler.nivo1.com/APExpressWeb/

Customer Satisfaction

To manage the incidents and requests that employees have, there is an IT Service Management tool that tracks tickets, pc’s, software on pc’s as well as other things. Another aspect is tracking Customer Satisfaction. Over the last 365 days, the satisfaction rating for the RDC IT Team is 100%.  Your feedback is critical for IT to look for opportunities to improve. Thank you to everyone that has provided feedback.

Important IT Alerts

Escalate any suspicious emails to the IT team