webversion CyberAware - October 2025
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Trending This Month...

Virginia continues to play a pivotal role in national cybersecurity and technology developments. Columbia Gas of Virginia promoted safe online practices during Cybersecurity Awareness Month. State lawmakers are also exploring AI regulations for 2026. A major AWS outage originating from a Northern Virginia data center highlighted the region's critical role in global cloud infrastructure.

Nationally, the U.S. government issued an emergency directive to patch F5 device vulnerabilities, and the FBI shut down BreachForums, a hub for data extortion. Microsoft flagged a threat group rerouting university payrolls, and Envoy Air was breached via an Oracle zero-day. Deepfake threats are rising, yet defenses remain weak across many organizations. Hackers also hijacked airport PA systems to broadcast political messages, prompting federal investigations. Despite these challenges, the growing collaboration between government, academia, and industry signals a strong, united front in strengthening America's cyber resilience.


Incidents/Articles of Note

  • October Is Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Columbia Gas Of Virginia Encourages Customers To Stay Cybersafe (VA)
  • Virginia Legislators Take First Look At Possible AI Laws Ahead Of 2026 Session (VA)
  • Northern Virginia Data Center Causes Amazon Web Services Disruption (VA)
  • Emergency Directive ED 26-01: Mitigate Vulnerabilities In F5 Devices
  • How Does Data Center Security Work?
  • FBI Takes Down BreachForums Portal Used For Salesforce Extortion
  • Deepfake Awareness High At Orgs, But Cyber Defenses Badly Lag
  • Microsoft Warns Of 'Payroll Pirate' Crew Looting US University Salaries
  • American Airlines Subsidiary Envoy Air Hit By Oracle Hack
  • Hacker Hijacks Airport PA System To Play Anti-Trump Message


Training Opportunities 

  • 2025 Virtual Summit - Fully Immersive Virtual Experience - Free On Demand -      November 12, 2025
  • Know Your Enemy: How Cybercriminals and Nation-State Hackers Operate - Virtual Event - November 13 - 11:00 am - 5:00 pm ET

Sworn Law Enforcement Officers
 
  • NW3C - CI101 Basic Cyber Investigations: Digital Footprints - In Person - January 14 -      9:00 am - 5:00 pm Eastern




Shield Products Sent This Month


Sent:

Academic Sector Specific Bulletin - Youth Human Trafficking

Faith Sector Specific Bulletin - Weapons At Worship

All Sectors Bulletin - OS Assessment - Ransomware Attacks Overview

FirstAware - Oct 2025
FaithAware - Oct 2025


Upcoming:

ScamAware - Oct 2025

CTAware - Oct 2025
CIAware - Oct 2025


- Tools and Resources -

 
Resource | CISA
Cybersecurity Awareness Month

This year's theme is Building a Cyber Strong America, highlighting the need to strengthen the country's infrastructure against cyber threats, ensuring resilience and security.

View Resource
 
 
a group of people standing next to each other by Robynne O (@roborobs)
Article | Cardinal News
Cyber Attacks Are On The Rise. Here's How Companies And Universities Protect Themselves, And How The Rest Of Us Can Be Savvier Users

At Roanoke Blacksburg Technology Council's recent event, Defense Against the Dark Arts: Raytheon Technologies vulnerability assessment analyst and Virginia Tech's director of future technology stand in front of a screen that includes Virginia Tech's lead penetration tester and security researcher to discuss cyber attacks.

View Article
 
 
macbook pro turned on displaying music by Joshua Woroniecki (@joshuaworoniecki)
Resource | CISA
Cybersecurity Best Practices

Cyberspace is particularly difficult to secure due to a number of factors: the ability of malicious actors to operate from anywhere in the world, the linkages between cyberspace and physical systems, and the difficulty of reducing vulnerabilities and consequences in complex cyber networks. Implementing safe cybersecurity best practices is important for individuals as well as organizations of all sizes.

View Resource
 
 
 

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The opinions or conclusions of the authors reflected in the open source articles and resources is not endorsed and/or does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Virginia Fusion Center. The sources have been selected to provide you with event information, highlight available resources, improve public safety, and reduce the probability of becoming a victim of a crime.

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