By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Department of Management has sent an alert to state employees, warning that the state’s Emergency Operations Center has observed an increase in so-called “phishing” attacks targeting state government.

The agency is asking state employees to be wary of emails that seem legitimate, but ask them to verify an account, open a file, or click a link to login with their username and password. Phishing scams often target government agencies since they collect and store a lot of personal data and manage critical infrastructure.

Last December, officials in Rhode Island announced a so-called “ransomware” attack on that state’s health services system had exposed the personal data of hundreds of thousands of Rhode Island residents. According to the FBI, over 90% of successful breaches of government and business data systems begin with a phishing scam.