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About Thomas Kocanda

Thomas is a security and compliance education consultant at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska. In this role, Thomas focuses on organization-wide oversight and education related to security, privacy and the organization’s Code of Conduct. Prior to being with BCBSNE, Thomas was an instructor at the University of Nebraska.

Traveling this summer? Here are some tips to stay cyber secure

Tom Kocanda is a security and compliance education consultant at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska (BCBSNE). In his role, he helps employees learn how to stay safe online.  Along with the warmer weather comes school break and, of course, the much-anticipated summer getaway. Whether you are taking a road trip somewhere nearby or

By |2022-12-22T16:13:36-06:00July 25th, 2022|Categories: Team Blue, Topics|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Traveling this summer? Here are some tips to stay cyber secure

Beware of at-home COVID-19 testing scams

Since the White House’s announcement in January of additional plans to help Americans fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, cybercriminals have been looking for new ways to exploit the programs to put extra cash in their pockets. A popular tactic for scammers is to piggyback on the news of at-home COVID-19 tests being made available to

Tips for sharing your COVID-19 vaccine experience on social media

Tom Kocanda is an enterprise security education consultant at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska. In his role, he helps employees learn how to stay safe online. As COVID-19 vaccines become more readily available, the number of Nebraskans who are getting the highly anticipated arm poke is also quickly increasing. For many, it’s a

Employees can help keep companies cybersecure

As online threats continue to make headlines, one thing 2020 has shown is the primary target of bad guys is increasingly people. This makes sense—why spend all that time trying to hack past security systems when it is generally easier to trick someone into letting you in? Think of it like a car alarm: the

As pandemic-themed scams continue, learn how to identify a scammer

Tom Kocanda is an enterprise security education consultant at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska. In his role, he helps employees learn how to stay safe online. Cyber criminals continue to use the COVID-19 pandemic as a vehicle to cash in, using fear and confusion to trick people out of money and personal information.

By |2021-01-04T15:18:04-06:00January 4th, 2021|Categories: Team Blue|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on As pandemic-themed scams continue, learn how to identify a scammer

Staying safe and secure online this school year

School is back in session, and as we all know, it’s much different than any year before. Schools across the country are adopting various forms of all-digital or blended virtual and in-person classrooms. With this new normal comes an increased use of online learning, which makes it even more important to make sure students don’t

Protect yourself from ransomware

Ransomware is a type of malicious software (malware) that cyber criminals use to lock you out of your files until you pay the bad guys to release them. It’s a growing online threat and a growing source of cash for the criminals. The most recent numbers from the Department of Homeland Security, pre-COVID-19, show that

Is that article really true? Here’s how to find out

The internet is rich in information and resources. But, with any open forum, some content found online may be designed to misinform or take advantage of you. Honing your critical thinking skills is by far the best defense against scammers and purveyors of misinformation who lurk online. Those skills can raise red flags telling you

By |2020-10-06T16:03:40-05:00August 6th, 2020|Categories: Team Blue|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Is that article really true? Here’s how to find out

Small to medium size businesses should make time for digital spring cleaning

Cybersecurity risks aren’t deterred by current world events. While many of us find ourselves working from home this spring, it may be the perfect time to shore-up our online security and privacy with a spring digital cleaning. Small to medium size businesses (SMBs) should take particular care of their digital safety right now because many

By |2020-10-06T16:05:16-05:00April 16th, 2020|Categories: Team Blue|Comments Off on Small to medium size businesses should make time for digital spring cleaning

Beware of IRS imposter scams

Tax season is in full swing, and as taxpayers diligently work to get their taxes submitted on time, tax season scammers are diligently working to scam victims out of money. One of the main ways this happens is when scammers pose as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), trying to convince you to give them personal