COVID Fatigue—We’re All Feelin’ it
Residents are tired of being cooped up, tired of being careful, tired of being scared. Our collective fatigue is making some people careless – one reason COVID-19 is rising sharply again in California and throughout the U.S. The analysis reveals a substantial drop in resident interest about CVOID-related issues over time across the board, suggesting COVID fatigue. Just over the course of a month, from October to September, we saw a 30% drop in online discourse related to COVID.
The San Rafael is Resilient newsletter has seen consistent engagement despite the noted COVID fatigue. 67% of our newsletter subscribers remain highly engaged, and the City’s Instagram account maintains an increased following of 25+ followers every month. Over the next week, we will be pushing our messages to promote testing, masking wearing, safe Thanksgiving celebrations, and more. Follow us at @sanrafaelawesome on Instagram!
Canal Wifi Network Metrics Dashboard Comes to Life
Earlier this week the Canal Wifi project team launched a new data visualization dashboard on the Canal Wifi website that shows information about how often the network is being used, the number of connected users by day, week, or month, and whether users are utilizing the network for school, work, general use, or for emergencies. All users’ privacy is respected and information in the dashboard is captured either dynamically through network devices or accumulated through visitor surveys. The dashboard will help us track and measure the success of the network. This dashboard was built by volunteers through the United States Digital Response – thank you Luis and Lauren!
Canal WiFi Network Expands
The rain this week caused some minor delays, but AT&T was able to complete their work in deploying fiber internet at two additional sites, 390 Canal Street pump station and 161 Novato Street (a building owned by Canal Alliance). The two locations will provide connectivity to the surrounding access points, further expanding the coverage of the network throughout the neighborhood.
And a big shoutout to Gabe Dias for answering our call for help in the rain. People like Gabe have helped us keep this project moving forward with the momentum it needs. Even the bad weather didn’t slow us down.
Cybersecurity Training
As the first line of defense, employees play a vital role in keeping a business safe from malicious sources, making cybersecurity training a vital part of our organization’s sustainability. A couple of weeks ago staff received an email to complete some cybersecurity trainings—have you done yours? The training is less than ten minutes and provides information about how to identify red flags from potential scammers.
For example, employees are receiving more and more phishing emails, a method used by cyber attackers to retrieve sensitive information about you or our organization. A phishing email will often come from an unknown sender, contain an urgent request, or have an unusual attachment or link for you to open.
If you receive an email that fits this description it is best to simply delete it. By deleting the email you’re eliminating the threat and no further action is needed on your part.
There are times when you should notify Xantrion of a phishing email, such as:
- The email impersonates someone you know, including tech support, HR or Finance.
- The email targets you or our organization directly and asks for City credentials.
- The email contains a suspicious attachment or link.
- You accidently clicked on a link in an email or opened an attachment that turned out to be suspicious.
- You received a call asking you to install something on your computer or provide your password.
Suspicious emails should be either deleted or forwarded to support@xantrion.com so they can investigate the source and determine it’s threat level. No additional or further action is required.
Not sure how to recognize a phishing email or phone call? Here’s a short video!