From Targets to Sentinels: Virginia's New Playbook Against Cybercrime

MCLEAN, VA – August 12, 2026 – For years, the advice on internet safety has been a mantra of personal responsibility: Don't click suspicious links. Use strong passwords. Recognize the signs of a scam. But in Virginia, a groundbreaking initiative is flipping that script, arguing that individual defense is no longer enough. Instead of simply telling its citizens to build taller digital walls, the Commonwealth is turning its most vulnerable communities into the front line of a collective, proactive war against cybercrime.

Through a novel partnership sponsored by the Virginia Office of the Attorney General, schools and senior living communities are being armed with technology from McLean-based Proxyware. They are no longer passive targets but active intelligence hubs, identifying and helping to dismantle the very infrastructure cybercriminals use to prey on millions. The signal is clear: the most effective defense is a coordinated offense.

A Paradigm Shift in Digital Defense

The traditional model of cybersecurity has placed the burden of defense squarely on the end-user. This new Virginia initiative reframes the problem entirely. It treats cybercrime not as a series of isolated incidents to be avoided, but as a systemic threat whose infrastructure can be mapped, tracked, and dismantled.

"This initiative fundamentally changes the role communities play in digital safety," said Chris Olson, CEO of Proxyware, in a statement. "Every participating school and senior living community contributes intelligence that helps identify and dismantle criminal infrastructure before it reaches someone else."

At the heart of the program are eight senior living communities and five school districts. Using Proxyware's technology, network activity is monitored not for user data, but for the tell-tale signatures of malicious campaigns. When a fraudulent website, phishing attempt, or scam advertisement is detected, the system doesn't just block it for that single user. It traces the attack back to its source, gathering intelligence that is then used to coordinate takedowns with registrars and hosting providers, effectively neutralizing the threat for everyone on the internet.

The urgency for such a new model is underscored by the state's own experiences. In February 2025, the Virginia Attorney General's office—the very sponsor of this initiative—was itself the target of a "sophisticated cyberattack" that forced systems offline. The incident serves as a stark reminder that no single entity is immune and that reactive measures are often too late.

This initiative represents a move from a philosophy of isolated defense to one of collective security. The success of the program, which the company reports has prevented over $20 million in fraud at the participating senior communities alone, suggests a powerful new growth signal: collaborative, community-driven intelligence may be the key to gaining momentum against an ever-evolving adversary.

The Human Front Line: Protecting Seniors and Students

Nowhere is the impact of this strategic shift more apparent than in its protection of vulnerable populations. Cybercriminals are ruthlessly efficient, constantly adapting their tactics to target those they perceive as most susceptible. Recent data reveals a chilling acceleration of this trend.

According to July threat intelligence from The Media Trust, a digital trust and safety firm, malicious campaigns targeting older Americans surged from 96 incidents in June to 862 in July—a nearly ninefold increase in a single month. This alarming spike coincides with a tactical evolution in the criminal playbook. The classic, often-mocked "your computer is infected" tech support scam is being replaced by something far more insidious.

"Consumers have become better at recognizing fake virus warnings, so criminals have simply changed the story," explained Sarah Ralston, Proxyware's Chief Product Officer. "Today's scams don't tell you your computer is infected. They tell you your Amazon order has shipped or your Apple Pay account has been charged. The psychology is different, but the objective is exactly the same."

These financial impersonation scams, mimicking trusted brands like Walmart and PayPal, create a powerful sense of urgency, pressuring victims to call fraudulent support numbers to cancel non-existent purchases. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has noted that elder fraud remains a massive, underreported problem, with national losses reaching $4.85 billion in 2024. By intercepting these fraudulent ads and websites at the network level, the Virginia program aims to stop these attacks before the psychological manipulation can even begin.

This same protective shield extends to another vulnerable group: students. As children return to classrooms, the technology is already working to sanitize their digital learning environments. The company reports that its system has blocked 77% of harmful online content before it ever reached school-issued devices. These are not just annoying pop-ups; they are often the first step in sophisticated schemes designed for credential theft, identity compromise, or even grooming and exploitation. By creating a safer digital space for learning, the initiative is investing in the long-term security of its youngest citizens.

Under the Hood: The Technology Fueling the Fight

The engine driving this collaborative defense is Proxyware's proprietary technology, which operates on the principle of seeing the internet through the eyes of a potential victim. The system deploys what can be described as "digital decoys" or "proxy victims" within the networks of participating communities. These decoys are designed to attract the attention of cybercriminals, acting as a virtual honeypot for scams.

When a threat actor targets one of these decoys, the technology intercepts and analyzes the entire attack chain in a secure environment, away from actual users. It maps the malicious advertisements, the redirect chains, the fraudulent domains, and the phishing pages. Because this happens at the source and is driven by AI, the system can identify and catalog new criminal infrastructure in real-time.

This intelligence is the program's most valuable asset. Once an attack is deconstructed, Proxyware coordinates with a global network of internet service providers and domain registrars to have the malicious assets taken down. According to the company, this process has achieved a 93% success rate in identifying and removing digital attacks. It’s a quiet revolution, turning the tables on criminals by using their own attacks to expose and dismantle their networks.

The model's success has garnered support from partner organizations. An executive from LeadingAge Virginia, an association representing non-profit aging services, noted that the partnership allows communities to think about "elder security" in a broader context, including financial wellness, and praised the technology for its preemptive approach.

A Replicable Blueprint for National Security?

The Virginia initiative's early success raises a critical question: Is this a scalable blueprint for digital public safety across the nation? The model's strength lies in its proactive, collaborative nature, a stark contrast to the chronically underreported and reactive state of most cybercrime enforcement.

State-level commitment appears to be a key ingredient. Virginia has demonstrated a growing focus on this front, allocating $28 million for IT security oversight in its current and 2028 fiscal budgets and supporting educational resources like the Virginia Cyber Range. This initiative fits neatly into a broader strategy of building a more resilient digital commonwealth.

Leaders within the program are already looking to expand. Proxyware's partners at LeadingAge Virginia have expressed a desire to see the technology deployed in senior housing and assisted living facilities nationwide. For this to happen, securing funding and buy-in from other state governments will be crucial.

The program offers a compelling value proposition: it not only protects citizens but also generates invaluable threat intelligence that benefits the entire internet ecosystem. It turns communities from liabilities in the fight against cybercrime into strategic assets.

For residents like Eric Jacobson of Cadence on the Potomac, the change is profound. "For years we were told the best we could do was avoid becoming victims," he said. "I never imagined our community could actually help stop these criminals. Knowing that something blocked here can help protect another senior or another family somewhere else makes me proud. We're not just protecting ourselves anymore. We're doing our part to make the internet safer for everyone."