Forde Shorts

Beware scams – Evil people use “social engineering” to scam you. At the Feb. 1 meeting of the Greater Tehachapi Economic Development Council, Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce President Ida Perkins distributed a reprint from the Security Awareness Newsletter by James Lyne that explains how scammers fool people. “Cyber attackers have learned that often the easiest way to steal your information, hack your accounts or infect your systems is by simply tricking you into making a mistake,” he wrote. “Social engineering is a psychological attack where an attacker tricks you into doing something you should not do. The concept of social engineering is not new. It has existed for thousands of years. Think of scammers as con artists – it is the very same idea. What makes today’s technology so much more effective for cyber attackers is you cannot physically see them. Them can easily pretend to be anything or anyone they want and target millions of people around the world, including you.” One example, he writes, is “CEO Fraud,” in which a cyber attacker researches an organization and identifies the name of your boss or co-worker. The attacker then sends an urgent message, asking you to take action, such as making a wire transfer or emailing sensitive employee information. Other attackers may call and trick you into believing that your computer is infected. You give them remote access to your computer and they install a malicious program. Common sense, Lyne writes, is your best defense. “If something suspicious does not feel right, it may be an attack.” Beware of someone creating a tremendous sense of urgency; someone asking for information they should not have access to; someone asking for your password (“No legitimate organization will ever ask you for that.”); someone pressuring you to bypass or ignore security processes; something too good to be true; receiving an odd email from a friend or coworker containing wording that does not sound like it is actually that person.

Ten years in the planning – With legal challenges out of the way, Walmart is poised to begin construction of its Tehachapi Supercenter. It will take 350 days to complete the building, according to Walmart.

GranFondo – Registration for the 2017 Tehachapi GranFondo cycling event is open. The event was voted best century (100-mile route) in California for the third year in a row. and in the top 15 in the United States. New pro sponsor Subaru joins Kaiser Permanente, BHE Renewables and Lehigh Southwest as marquee sponsors.

Good time to sell – As of the beginning of February, inventory of homes for sale in the Tehachapi Multiple Listing Service area was low, with 157 listings.

RENEWBIZ grants – Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner’s deputy Ryan Rush reports that 14 RENEWBIZ grants totalling $357,490.54 have been awarded to the communities of Boron, Mojave, Rosamond and Old Town Tehachapi, which is Kern County. With cash and in-kind matches, the totals were Boron – $56,279.85; Mojave, – $97,880.75; Rosamond – $77,074.00; Tehachapi – $126,237.94. The grants help the communities provide external improvements.

Oroville – At the Feb. 15 meeting of the Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District board of directors, Manager Tom Neisler submitted a written report on the situation at the Oroville Reservoir, which he has been monitoring closely. He said the district is obliged to help pay for the repairs at the damaged Oroville spillway. “Lake Oroville and the dam facilities are components of the State Water Project. As such, we are responsible for approximately 0.5 percent of the ultimate costs borne by DWR for repairs,” he said. “It is far too early to assess damage or costs. The initial estimate for damage to the permanent spillway was $200 million. It is unknown at this time how much of the expense will be covered by state and federal emergency relief.” The water board voted not to raise water rates for 2017. Neisler said the California Department of Water Resources has extended the drought regulations for 270 days, leaving the agencies to self-analyze

their conservation needs. He said the state needs more storage facilities.