Senior Cyber Safety Briefing – October 31, 2025

🚨ALERT - State‑sponsored hackers breached the U.S. telecom‑services firm Ribbon Communications and remained undetected for nearly a year. IT Pro
👉Why it matters - That firm works with major telecom carriers, so if their systems were compromised for months, it puts millions of phone/internet customers’ data and communications infrastructure at risk.
📣Call to Action - Review your phone/internet provider’s account‑security settings: enable multi‑factor authentication (MFA), change your password if you haven’t in a while, and ask if any “unusual login” alerts were triggered on your account.

📈ECONOMY & SECURITY - Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and allies issue guidance for on‑premises Microsoft Exchange Server users as critical risks mount. Help Net Security
👉Why it matters - Many organisations (including pharmacies, clinics, senior‑services groups) still use older Exchange deployments. If those are unpatched, hackers could lurk in your provider’s systems and endanger your personal info.
📣Call to Action - If you interact with a group using their own “@yourgroup.org” email (instead of Gmail/Outlook), ask if they’ve applied the latest patches and use secure email protocols—otherwise treat any email as potentially compromised.

🔧OPPORTUNITY - CISA adds major vulnerabilities in VMware Tools and other platforms to its “Known Exploited Vulnerabilities” (KEV) list. gbhackers.com+1
👉Why it matters - These exploits are actively used by attackers. Even if you’re not a tech‑pro, the risk means more organisations you trust could get hacked, making your personal data vulnerable.
📣Call to Action - Make sure your personal devices (PCs, tablets) are set to auto‑update; for any online account with financial or health info, enable MFA and review whether the service has suffered a breach in the past year (you can use “Have I Been Pwned?” or similar).

🔧OPPORTUNITY ‑‑ (Senior‑specific angle) – With multiple municipal cyber‑incidents showing up in October 2025 (e.g., Texas, Tennessee, Indiana) affecting what you’d assume are low‑risk targets. Security Boulevard+1
👉Why it matters - If local governments get hit, that could affect services you rely on (local health department portals, senior community centres, property tax/pay utilities).
📣Call to Action - Make sure you keep local service‑provider contact details handy (offline copy) in case digital systems go down—and consider printing recent billing statements rather than only relying on online access.

🔧OPPORTUNITY ‑‑ (Emerging trend) – LinkedIn introduces AI‑opt‑out mechanism for users. CISO Series
👉Why it matters - AI‑driven profiling is influencing what adverts and messages you get—and could be used by scammers to craft more believable frauds aimed at seniors.
📣Call to Action - On any social‑media site you use (even LinkedIn or Facebook), check your privacy settings: limit how much public info is visible, disable “allowed data sharing” with third‑parties where possible.

✅Quick Safety Tip of the Day
If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from your internet provider saying “we detected suspicious login activity, press 1 to speak to tech support”—hang up and call the official number printed on your bill.

(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👋