If your business uses Microsoft Teams, today could be the day some of your automations quietly break. March 31, 2026 is the official retirement date for Office 365 connectors in Teams — and if you haven’t migrated yet, those alerts and notifications you rely on could go silent. That’s just one of the stories we covered on today’s Nerds News. We also dig into a terrifying new phishing technique involving AI deepfakes on LinkedIn and share the latest data on why cyberattacks have now overtaken the economy as the top threat to small businesses.
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Microsoft Teams Office 365 Connectors Are Retiring Today — Here’s What to Do
If you’ve ever set up automated alerts in Microsoft Teams — notifications from your ticketing system, project management tool, or monitoring dashboard piped directly into a channel — there’s a good chance those rely on Office 365 connectors. As of today, March 31, 2026, Microsoft is officially retiring those connectors as part of their Secure Future Initiative.
What does this mean for your business? Any webhook-based integrations that push notifications into Teams channels could stop working. The fix is to migrate to Power Automate Workflows, which Microsoft offers for free within Teams. The migration itself is straightforward — Microsoft has published step-by-step guides — but you have to actually do it. If you wait, those alerts go silent and your team could miss critical notifications.
We understand how frustrating it is when a tool you depend on changes without warning. If you’re not sure whether your Teams setup is affected, talk to your IT team or reach out to us — we can check your configuration and handle the migration for you.
LinkedIn Deepfake Phishing: Hackers Are Impersonating Hiring Managers on Video Calls
Phishing has evolved far beyond suspicious emails. The Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacking operation, has been caught using AI-generated deepfake video to impersonate real hiring managers during fake job interviews on LinkedIn. The attack starts with a professional-looking job offer message, leads to a scheduled video call, and uses deepfake technology to pose as a real person. The goal is to get victims to click malicious links or download infected files during the “interview.”
A security company CEO was recently targeted but caught the scam when the deepfake voice didn’t match public videos of the real person. Most people wouldn’t notice that kind of discrepancy. This is a stark reminder that social engineering attacks are getting more sophisticated every month — and they’re not limited to email anymore.
If you or anyone on your team is active on LinkedIn, be cautious about unexpected job offers, recruiter messages, or requests to download files. Always verify the identity of someone through a separate channel before clicking anything. And make sure your team knows that phishing can come through video calls, social media, and messaging apps — not just email.
Cyberattacks Have Officially Overtaken the Economy as the #1 Threat to Small Businesses
For the first time ever, three out of four small and mid-size businesses now rank cyber incidents as their number one operational threat — surpassing economic concerns. The numbers are stark: ransomware attacks on small businesses have jumped 34% year over year, the average ransom demand has hit $84,000, and the total cost of an incident — including downtime, recovery, and reputation damage — often exceeds $500,000.
The most common factor in successful attacks? Lack of security expertise on staff. If your business doesn’t have a dedicated security person or a managed security partner, you’re the exact profile attackers are targeting with automated tools. They know small businesses tend to have weaker defenses and valuable data — and they’re scaling their attacks accordingly.
No business should have to wait until after a breach to take cybersecurity seriously. Having a managed security partner means you have experts watching your environment around the clock, so you can focus on running your business with confidence. If you’re not sure where you stand, schedule an appointment and we’ll walk you through it.
Quick Hits: CareCloud Breach, ChatGPT Vulnerability, and the AI Training Act
CareCloud Healthcare Breach: Healthcare software provider CareCloud reported a network disruption impacting electronic health records. If any of your vendors handle sensitive patient or client data, this is a reminder that your security is only as strong as your weakest vendor.
ChatGPT Vulnerability: A flaw in OpenAI’s ChatGPT was discovered that could let attackers steal sensitive data by tricking users into pasting a malicious prompt. If your team uses AI tools for work, remind them never to paste prompts from untrusted sources — treat unfamiliar prompts the same way you’d treat a suspicious email link.
Small Business AI Training Act: A bipartisan bill has been introduced in Congress to create AI training resources specifically for small businesses. It’s a positive signal that the government is starting to help SMBs get up to speed on AI tools and automation.
Key Takeaways
- Check your Teams integrations today — Office 365 connectors are retiring and need to be migrated to Power Automate Workflows
- Warn your team about LinkedIn deepfake scams — verify unexpected job offers or recruiter contacts through a separate channel
- Cybersecurity is now the #1 small business threat — if you don’t have dedicated security expertise, a managed security partner can fill the gap
- Audit your vendor security — the CareCloud breach shows your data is only as safe as your vendors
- Be cautious with AI tools — never paste prompts from untrusted sources into ChatGPT or similar tools
Stay Connected
Nerds News drops new episodes multiple times a week. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Music so you never miss an episode. And if any of today’s stories raised questions about your business’s IT or security, we’re here to help — schedule an appointment with our team.