Roundup: Viniks give to USF student fund, bad guys go phishing, coronavirus cases by ZIP code update

Today’s roundup has news about the Vinik Family Foundation, University of South Florida, Community Health Centers of Pinellas and KnowBe4.

The Vinik Family Foundation has donated $50,000 to the USF United Support Fund, an initiative recently created to help provide financial relief to students who are facing unexpected challenges due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“We are pleased to be able to assist the students at USF during this difficult and uncertain time,” said Jeff Vinik, Tampa Bay Lightning owner, and his wife, Penny Vinik, in a news release from University of South Florida. “We encourage everyone who is able to find a way to give of their time, talent or treasure to those who need assistance during this pandemic.”

With the gift from the Viniks, USF’s student fund has now reached more than $240,000, with contributions from more than 1,100 individual donors. More than 1,000 students have applied for the financial aid, with approximately 175 students receiving funds and hundreds of other applications currently under review.

Anyone interested in supporting the USF United Support Fund can make a monetary gift through the USF Foundation’s website. Students can apply for funds through the Office of Financial Aid.

Community Health Centers of Pinellas will get nearly $1.8 million under the CARES Act, federal legislation aimed at reducing the economic impact of the pandemic. It’s part of a $63 million award for Florida health centers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida.

Pinellas County is in line for $626,255, while Tampa Family Health Centers will get $3.4 million.

Pinellas County reported a 10th death from Covid-19 early Thursday. No information was available on the person who died. As of 10 a.m. Thursday morning, there were 413 confirmed cases in Pinellas, with victims ranging in age from 1 to 95.

The 33756 ZIP code, which includes all or parts of Belleair, Belleair Beach, Belleair Bluffs, Clearwater and Largo, has 35 cases, the highest number of cases by ZIP code in Pinellas, according to the Florida Department of Health. The 33774 Zip code has 25 cases; it includes all or part of Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores, Largo, Seminole, Harbor Bluffs and Ridgecrest. Downtown St.Petersburg’s 33701 ZIP code has 17 cases.

The darker blue shades indicate a larger number of cases on this Pinellas County Covid map from the Florida Department of Health

Phishing attacks related to Covid-19 were up 600 percent in the first three months of 2020, a new report from KnowBe4 says.

“The bad guys are opportunists and they will use every chance they get to take advantage of people’s heightened emotions during crisis situations such as this one by trying to entice them to click on a malicious link or download an attachment laced with malware,” Stu Sjouwerman, CEO, KnowBe4, said in a news releae.

KnowBe4, a Clearwater-based cybersecurity training firm, listed 10 email subject lines that showed up most often during Q1 on suspicious emails.

They are:

• Password Check Required Immediately

• CDC Health Alert Network: Coronavirus Outbreak Cases

•  PTO Policy Changes

•  Scheduled Sever Maintenance – No Internet Access

•  Test of the [[company_name]] Emergency Notification System

• Revised Vacation & Sick Time Policy

• De-activation of [[email]] in Process

• Please Read Important from Human Resources

•  Someone special sent you a Valentine’s Day ecard!

• You have been added to a team in Microsoft Teams