My daughter got a new phone number recently, and last night she texted my mom for the first time. To my surprise and delight, my mom texted me on the side to confirm whether the person she was texting with was actually her granddaughter.

“Way to trust but verify, mom. You should teach a cybersecurity awareness class for seniors at the library!” I replied. 

I was joking, but partially serious. My mom is in her mid-70s, a sector of the population that is often targeted with scams and phishing campaigns. Earlier this year, I wrote about my parents’ neighbor who had been the victim of fraud scams.  All too often, seniors fall victim to these attacks. In fact, an NBC affiliate in Portland, Oregon reported that an 83-year-old man lost $90,000 to scammers who were posing as federal agents. Multiple outlets covered the story of five people charged with a campaign targeting the elderly with claims that their retirement accounts had been compromised. 

An evolving scam whose victims reportedly transcend age is that of voice cloning, a rapidly growing type of deepfake. Though the use of voice cloning is becoming more widely available to malicious actors, many people remain unaware of its existence. According to an MSN.com post, a survey of 3,000 people conducted in the UK found that nearly half (46%) had no knowledge of this type of scam. Meanwhile, fraudsters are using voice cloning to swindle victims throughout India at an alarming rate.

For tips on how to avoid being the victim of a phone scam, check out this webcast in the RSAC Library.

Now let’s take a look at what else made industry headlines this week.

Oct. 11: Some robot vacuums in the US have been hacked, and some went rogue and started chasing dogs and yelling out slurs.

Oct. 10: Security Week reported, “The Internet Archive has confirmed getting hacked and suffering a data breach with as many as 31 million users reportedly being impacted.”

Oct. 10: Microsoft warns of an increase in cyber threats facing K-12 schools, with an average of 2,507 cyberattack attempts per week.

Oct. 9: “Google announced a new partnership with the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and DNS Research Federation to combat online scams,” The Hacker News reported.

Oct. 9: A bug found in Apple’s new iPhone mirroring feature poses significant privacy concerns for employees.

Oct. 8: American Water, the largest publicly traded water utility in the US, was forced to shut down its website and some of its systems and services after a cyberattack.

Oct. 8: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and FBI warn of Iranian-backed cyber activity to undermine US Democratic institutions. 

Oct. 7: Scammers hacked the LEGO website to promote a fake LEGO token that could be purchased with Ethereum, aiming to steal cryptocurrency from users.

Oct. 7: A Ukrainian national pleaded guilty for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.