COTAK News

CloudTAK (map.cotak.gov) now supports a dark mode, for nighttime operations or simply for reducing eye strain. To turn on dark mode in your settings select "Display Preferences" and find the preference for "Light/Dark Style."

New base maps have also been made available for CloudTAK. These maps are 'data defined' instead of being simply images, and are more efficient to load and enable advanced features, such as the labels rotating if you change the direction the map is pointing. To find a data defined map look for the "square with 4 points" icon next to the basemap (as opposed to the trifold map icon, which indicates a traditional image-based map).

• These new maps include the "Commander" map which uses Open Street Map data, and automatically changes color as you switch from light to dark mode in CloudTAK. This map also includes 3D buildings when CloudTAK is tiled into 3D over select areas of Colorado as well as building addresses.

• The COTREX map has also been added, which features a topographic map and rich data on trails curated by Colorado Parks & Wildlife. To view these maps simply open the basemaps tool in CloudTAK and click on the map of your choice.
  

Thank you to the more than 150 public safety professionals who attended, presented, and supported the inaugural COTAK Summit. The event provided an important opportunity to share operational experiences, explore emerging capabilities, and strengthen relationships across agencies and disciplines. We are grateful for your partnership and look forward to building on this momentum as we continue advancing situational awareness and interoperability for Colorado’s first responders. We can’t wait to see you next year!

Remembering your COTAK password and syncing it across your devices can be a challenge, but a new technology called passkeys can help! A passkey provides a different approach to security, by creating a ‘fingerprint’ specific to an individual device like a phone or laptop. You unlock this ‘fingerprint’ using your Face ID, your PIN, or your literal fingerprint, and the passkey then allows you to access the protected site. Passkeys improve security against phishing attacks and eliminate annoying two-factor authentication requests.

The COTAK program has deployed passkeys to log into our cotak.gov website and to access CloudTAK. The requirement to have a password as part of your COTAK account is not going away, since the mobile apps still require users to enter a username and password, but only once per year.

To set up a passkey in cotak.gov log in as normal, then click on your initials in the top right corner of the page and then “profile.” A new option under your profile is now available called “Manage Passkeys” and allows you to make a new passkey for each computer or phone you need to use. In CloudTAK similarly log in normally, then click on “Settings” and the “Login Passkeys” option. Click the + button to set up a new passkey for each computer or phone you need. Once a passkey has been set up you should never have to enter your COTAK password again on that device.