Town Hall Security

The town of Ashfield is growing more secure.

During his police liaison report, Select Board Chair Dave DeHerdt said the remaining missing Knox Box key has been located in one of the town’s police cruisers. The key is now in the hands of Emergency Management Director Doug Field, who will pass it on to Fire Chief Del Haskins.

DeHerdt also reported that Chief Cotton has changed the access codes to the police department offices so that each officer has their own code, which can be deleted when that officer leaves town employment. Previously, the department used a single access code known to all current and former police officers.

Another security issue that came up is about wireless access to Town Hall. DeHerdt explained that, several weeks ago, a resident offered the Police Department’s wireless router password to another resident for use during select board meetings. The board, concerned that someone could use the password to hack into the department’s computers, found that the police department does not require wireless internet access and disabled their wireless router.

At last night’s meeting, Paul Swem, the town’s former IT consultant, acknowledged that he was the one who offered the password to the editor of this blog for this reporter’s use. He assured the board that the password would in no way give even a skilled hacker access to the police department computers. He did, however, warn that the town’s computer systems are far from secure. The assessor’s computer, in particular, is still open to access by any current and former members of the Board of Assessors or anyone else with the password or the IP address. Swem encouraged the Select Board to bring in Virginia Wiswell, the town’s current IT consultant, to tighten security.

DeHerdt suggested that the town consider offering wireless access in town hall for use during meetings. Swem pointed out that, since the town’s Verizon account offers unlimited access, it would cost the town nothing. The board agreed to take the matter up in the future.

David King

Editor’s Note: I do not have and have never had any password to any town wireless router or computer. Nor do I have any hacking skills. Ruth Julian