PERAC Memo #20 - 2010: PERAC E-Mail Addresses and the Secure Exchange of Sensitive Information

MEMORANDUM #20, 2010 M E M O R A N D U M TO: All Retirement Boards FROM: Joseph E. Connarton, Executive Director RE: PERAC E-Mail Addresses and the Secure Exchange of Sensitive Information DATE: April 14, 2010 As of February 19, 2010, all PERAC staff members have an additional e-mail address. Please refer to the attached list for our e-mail addresses. This list will be posted along with this memo in the 2010 Memos section of PERAC’s Home Page. You will be able to copy and paste addresses from it. PERAC has joined the Commonwealth’s centrally managed electronic messaging and collaboration service known as Mass Mail. The new e-mail addresses were assigned by the Information Technology Division (ITD) to facilitate PERAC’s migration to Mass Mail. The e-mail addresses that PERAC staff members have had since 2005 will continue to be valid. There are no plans to discontinue their use in the foreseeable future. In fact, the staff directory sections of PERAC’s Home Page will continue to reflect the e-mail addresses from 2005 as will the addresses to which you send your completed on-line appropriation questionnaire and pooled fund statements. In recent months, PERAC has been running a pilot program with a few retirement boards using the Commonwealth’s Secure File and E-mail Delivery Application (SFED) to facilitate the secure exchange of e-mail and data files. All information transmitted via SFED is encrypted for storage and transfer to ensure security and privacy. By using it, other methods for exchanging sensitive information with PERAC such as tape exchange, CDs, file transfer protocols, and sneaker-net can be discontinued. SFED is safe, easy to use, and free. To communicate with PERAC via SFED you must first set up an account on SFED upon receiving an e-mailed invitation from PERAC. Please note that to send an e-mail to PERAC with attached files via SFED, you must use the PERAC e-mail addresses ending in @per.state.ma.us. The new e-mail addresses that end in @MassMail.State.MA.US will not be recognized by SFED, and consequently, files cannot be transmitted to them via the application. PERAC is currently developing protocols and best business practice standards for using SFED and we anticipate making the details available soon so that all retirement boards can take advantage of the efficiencies and security that this technology has to offer when communicating with PERAC. Please note that although the Mass Mail migration has resulted in additional e-mail addresses, the address of PERAC’s Home Page, www.mass.gov/perac, has not changed. If you have any questions about the new addresses and/or SFED, please contact Communication & Education Director Sarah Kelly or Director of Information Systems Paul Laliberte.