Senior Cyber Safety Briefing – October 26, 2025

🚨ALERT – Major healthcare insurer’s vendor breached, 462,000 members exposed
👉Why it matters – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana revealed that roughly 462,000 current and former members had their protected health information accessed during a cyberattack on its partner, Conduent Business Services. The HIPAA Journal Many seniors rely on BCBS plans—this is a reminder that even if you weren’t directly attacked, your data may sit with a third‑party vendor.
📣Call to Action – If you’re with BCBSMT or a similar plan, call the insurer and the vendor to ask: “Have my records been accessed? What services are you offering for protection (credit monitoring, ID theft insurance)?” Then change your healthcare portal password and enable any offered alerts.

📈ECONOMY & SECURITY – Global convention boosts cybercrime cooperation
👉Why it matters – The signing of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime (aka the “Hanoi Convention”) signals countries committing to be tougher on cyber‑fraud, which means more cross‑border takedowns of scammers—but also scammers stepping up their global game. Vietnam+ (VietnamPlus)+1
📣Call to Action – When you get a phone call or email claiming to be “international law enforcement” or “we are tracking you globally”, hang up. Legit‑agency calls won’t demand payment via gift card or threaten “international arrest” out of the blue.

🧠MUST‑READ – Industrial/critical‑infrastructure world says “we’ve got to wake up”
👉Why it matters – A new feature reports that companies running physical plant systems (OT = operational technology) are finally being forced into sharing threat intelligence and coordinating across vendors, after too many attacks slipped through the cracks. Industrial Cyber This may not immediately affect your home PC—but the same vulnerabilities often trickle down into consumer devices and services you use.
📣Call to Action – Review the smart‑device ecosystem in your home (smart thermostats, cameras, etc.) and ask: “Who updates this? Who monitors it?” If you can’t answer clearly, disable remote access or log‑in from outside until you can.

🔥PRIVACY & BIG TECH – White House AI plan may help seniors—but also opens new risks
👉Why it matters – The latest US government AI strategy is meant to streamline government services for older adults (for example, helping with Medicare or benefit questions) but using AI also means larger central data‑stores and greater chances of automation misuse or scams. Fed News Network
📣Call to Action – If you use a government website or service that introduces a new “assistant” or “chatbot,” treat it like any other tech change: use a strong, unique password for your account, make sure you know how to contact a real person, and don’t trust the bot with your Social Security number unless you verify the site.

💡OPPORTUNITY – You’re the best “weak link” to turn into a skeptic
👉Why it matters – Scams aimed at seniors keep evolving (phone‑based, QR‑code based, voice‑clone based). The more you treat every odd request as potential scam, the fewer headaches you’ll have. This is your edge.
📣Call to Action – Take a minute and jot down two “test questions” you’ll ask when you get a weird request (“Who let you access my account?” or “What number can I call you back at?”). Then keep that notepad near your phone or computer. When you're unsure, pause and verify.

✅Quick Safety Tip of the Day
Before clicking a link from a health‑insurer or government agency, hover your cursor over it (on PC) or long‑press (on mobile) to check if the actual URL looks legit—and if it doesn’t, don’t click.

(AI was used to create this article.)

🙋Closing Note

Stay safe, stay secure, stay curious, and remember my friends—you’re never too old to outsmart a scammer👋