The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says it is moving away from its CodeRED emergency system following recent cyberattacks and data breaches nationwide.
CodeRED is a critical notification system used to deliver time-sensitive alerts during severe weather events, public safety threats and other emergencies. CodeRED has reported that information such as names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and possibly passwords for profiles may have been compromised.
“If the same password is used by system users for any other personal or business accounts, those passwords should be changed immediately,” county officials said.
During this transition, partner agencies with emergency alerting capabilities will issue public alerts on Washington County’s behalf.
The county is encouraging residents who use the system to do the following:
• Change any usernames or passwords to other personal or business accounts similar to those used for CodeRED profiles.
• Ensure Emergency Alerts are turned on in phone settings.
• Follow Washington County Sheriff’s Office and local public safety agencies on social media.
• Maintain multiple ways to receive alerts, such as NOAA Weather Radio and local news outlets.
The county said CodeRED has reported there is no evidence that any user information has been used to carry out identity theft or fraud.
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