Latest news with #onlinesecurity
Digital Trends
a day ago
- Business
- Digital Trends
Avast's online security is 80% off right now, here's why you'll want it
We live in a time where our online lives are every bit as real as our day to day, walking around town lives. Perhaps, for the most digitally connected of us, more real. Fortunately, we also live in a time where we have plentiful access to the best free antivirus software. But is it enough? What about online scams, ransomware, phishing, data tracking, and all the things that could go wrong that nobody thinks about until it is too late? That's where a paid service can come in and help. However, they're often too expensive to bother trying or have a free trial that's too short to be handy when they're needed. That's why we really like this deal that gets you an Avast plan at 80% off its normal price for an entire year giving you plenty of chances to encounter places where the software is actually useful before deciding if you want to pay full price for it. Avast is already one of our favorites of the aforementioned free antivirus software provides, so their online security just makes sense for a more complete package. Tap the button below to start getting Avast Premium Security for $16 for a year (instead of $78, a savings of $62) or Avast Ultimate for just $22 for the year (instead of $110, a savings of $88). Or, keep reading to see how they'll help you. Why you should try Avast Premium Security or Avast Ultimate The Avast Premium Security plan gives you malware and virus protection, just like you would expect, but goes further by offering other services. For example, it can protect you against ransomware attacks, help you detect online scams, and even check up on Wi-Fi network security to make sure you're safe. It also helps with more unusual situations, such as remote access attacks on your PC, phishing sites, and protecting you from fake websites that look like their legitimate counterparts. Avast Ultimate does all of this and then, for the equivalent of just $0.53 more per month (while this deal is on, at least) it also gives you three bonus features: A secure VPN, software to clean and tune up your PC, and anti-tracking assistance to keep your online identity hidden. Put altogether, this package will keep your PC in tip-top shape while also keeping you ultra secure. If either of these products sound nice to you, this is an excellent time to buy an annual plan. Remember, Avast Premium Security is usually $78 for a year, but you can now get it for just $16, a savings a $62. Likewise, Avast Ultimate is usually $110, but if you get it now you can save $88 and only spend $22. These quick pickups give you a full year to see their advantages, all for about the same cost as a month of your favorite entertainment package. Tap the button below to ensure you get you plan while this offer is still on.
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
Facebook Deletes 10 Million Accounts And Warns The Purge Will Go On
Facebook is purging accounts, 10 million gone in just six months. Some of the world's biggest online platforms are purging accounts. We've seen Google Maps and Gmail users impacted, Samsung recently emailed me an account deletion warning, and now Facebook can be added to the list. Meta has confirmed that a staggering 10 million accounts have been deleted in the first half of 2025 alone, and the purge is not stopping there. Here's everything you need to know. 10 Million Facebook Accounts Deleted Since The Start Of 2025 Nobody likes the thought of their online accounts being deleted, which is why there was something of a panic around Google sending emails about just such a purge when they hit inboxes towards the end of 2023. Of course, that panic was unjustified, as the emails referred to a change in Google's inactive account policy, which meant that those left unused for two years were being deleted. But what if active accounts are being purged, as is the case with the Facebook confirmation, is that cause for concern? The answer, at least for the overwhelming majority of legitimate Facebook users, is a resounding no. In fact, I'd argue it's cause for security celebration. A July 14 announcement in the Facebook creators blog explains exactly why in its lede: 'We believe that creators should be celebrated for their unique voices and perspectives, not drowned out by copycats and impersonators.' Given the warning issued to all 220 Amazon Prime customers regarding attacks where brand impersonation was front and center, it should come as some relief to us all that Meta is taking the issue seriously when it comes to Facebook creators. All too often, such impersonation is just one step away from malicious intent, using the reputation of others to engender trust and leverage attack methodologies. As a continuation of efforts to remove spammy content, including fake engagement and impersonation, Facebook has confirmed that since the start of the year, it 'took down around 10 million profiles impersonating large content producers.' This is in addition to 500,000 accounts found to have been engaging in said spammy behavior and fake engagement having comments demoted, reach reduced and monetization stopped. The good news is that Meta intends to carry on doing more of the same. 'Facebook aims to be a place where original content thrives, and creators are rewarded for their hard work and creativity,' the announcement concluded.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
The Best Data Removal Service Can Help You Scrub Your Internet Presence
Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter By Max Eddy Max Eddy is a writer who has covered privacy and security—including password managers, VPNs, security keys, and more—for over a decade. Updated June 27, 2025 If you've ever Googled yourself — who hasn't? — you've probably found your personal information for sale on websites belonging to data brokers. These companies collect phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, and even information on family members, and then sell your information to anyone willing to pay. You can manually submit opt-out requests to data brokers yourself, but there are hundreds of them. Data removal services do the heavy lifting for you — for a price. After testing nine services, we've concluded that the set-it-and-forget-it design and reasonable pricing of DeleteMe make it the best choice for most people. Our budget pick, EasyOptOuts, has fewer features, but for $20 a year, it provides a cheap and easy way to improve your online privacy. DeleteMe is easy to set up and even easier to use: For $129 a year, you receive periodic reports on what data it has removed on your behalf, but otherwise it does the work for you. The most interaction you'll have with a data removal service is when you enter your data, and DeleteMe does an excellent job of streamlining this process. It's comprehensive — covering names, addresses, and even relatives — but flexible enough that you don't need to remember every little detail to reap the benefits. Once you've done your part, you might never need to interact with it again. DeleteMe sends periodic reports that list what information it found and what steps it took to remove your data. EasyOptOuts matches its barebones design with an affordable annual price. It's the cheapest data removal service we've tested, and it gets the job done. EasyOptOuts is a less flexible service than others we tested, and it provides minimal information about the data it has removed on your behalf. But the price, just $20 a year, makes it easy to overlook this basic service's limitations. If you're interested in getting your personal information off the internet but reluctant to pay the high price of other services, EasyOptOuts is a solid option. Explore all articles I'm a senior staff writer at Wirecutter, covering security, privacy, and software. I have reviewed products designed to safeguard online privacy for 13 years. For this guide: I researched 16 data removal services and enrolled with nine of them, granting them as much information as they requested. I personally evaluated those services over a period of two months. I designed a long-term testing experiment to evaluate the efficacy of data removal services. Five Wirecutter staffers will be using the services for at least a year to inform our recommendations. Anyone concerned about their online privacy may benefit from a data removal service. If you type your name with 'address' or 'phone number' into a search engine, there's a good chance you'll find data brokers who have your personal information for sale. Although you can sometimes manually request that these brokers take your information down, doing so is a tedious process that you need to repeat for each data broker. Data removal services promise to handle the nitty-gritty of removing your information from data broker sites for a fee. They also keep looking for your data across the galaxy of data brokers and continue filing removal requests as long as you pay for the service. But even using a data removal service doesn't completely scrub your online identity. A representative of EasyOptOuts told us that data brokers may repost information that has been taken down, though whether that happens is unpredictable. The rep also told us that the company doesn't believe its service will lead to people getting fewer spam calls, so set your expectations accordingly. Also, not every data removal service is available to customers outside the US — DeleteMe is available in 11 other countries, but EasyOptOuts is US-only. Data brokers aren't the only source for your personal information. Many people routinely provide lots of information about themselves on social media platforms, which use that data to serve targeted ads. Advertisers, like data brokers, are keen to learn as much as they can about you, and they use a variety of tools to try to track you between websites, which is why we recommend using a tracker blocker such as Privacy Badger. Once you start taking control of your personal information with a data removal service, build on that momentum to start improving your security hygiene, too. Using a password manager and enabling two-factor authentication wherever it's available are two easy ways to make yourself safer online. Share this article with a friend. We considered the following criteria when making our picks: A standalone tool: Some data removal services are bundled together with other tools, such as VPNs and antivirus. Although such packages might provide subscribers with more utility, we focused on companies that provided data removal services without additional, questionably useful features tacked on. Some data removal services are bundled together with other tools, such as VPNs and antivirus. Although such packages might provide subscribers with more utility, we focused on companies that provided data removal services without additional, questionably useful features tacked on. Easy, flexible data entry: The most interaction you'll have with a data removal service is giving it your personal information, so the ideal data removal service should make this process as painless as possible. We preferred services that are flexible enough to use whatever information you can provide and do not reject incomplete information. The most interaction you'll have with a data removal service is giving it your personal information, so the ideal data removal service should make this process as painless as possible. We preferred services that are flexible enough to use whatever information you can provide and do not reject incomplete information. Reasonable price: You can subscribe to a data removal service for as little as $20 a year or as much as $300, with significantly higher pricing for additional features and family accounts. We gave preference to services that met our minimum criteria at an affordable price. Data removal service Cost per year Family discount or plan EasyOptOuts $20 None Incogni $99 $198 per year for four people DuckDuckGo Privacy Pro $100 None Mozilla Monitor $108 None Kanary Copilot $120 50% off family members' accounts DeleteMe $129 $229 per year for two people, $329 per year for four people Malwarebytes Personal Data Remover $100 $233-per-year Multi-device Ultimate bundle for two adults and up to 10 children; also includes antivirus, VPN, and other tools Privacy Bee $197 None Optery $249 (tiered pricing; custom removals available at this tier) 20% discount for two, 25% for three, 30% for four or more accounts Transparency: We gave preference to data removal services that showed what they found and when it was removed. We gave preference to data removal services that showed what they found and when it was removed. Custom removal: Your information can pop up in surprising places, which is why a data removal service should ideally have a system for customers to report sightings of their information online and have the company investigate whether it can be removed. Your information can pop up in surprising places, which is why a data removal service should ideally have a system for customers to report sightings of their information online and have the company investigate whether it can be removed. Number of data brokers covered: With rare exception, most data removal services say they cover at least 100 data brokers. This is a very difficult figure to verify independently and as such we don't consider this to be the most important criterion. If the data removal company can prove that it found your information and removed it, and if it offers custom removals, the actual number of data brokers doesn't matter as much. With rare exception, most data removal services say they cover at least 100 data brokers. This is a very difficult figure to verify independently and as such we don't consider this to be the most important criterion. If the data removal company can prove that it found your information and removed it, and if it offers custom removals, the actual number of data brokers doesn't matter as much. Trustworthy security practices: You need to provide an enormous amount of personal information to a data removal service in order for it to track down and remove your data. The company, in turn, must explain what measures it uses to protect your data, and it should not sell your information for profit. When setting up our accounts, we provided as much information as possible to the data removal service. In most cases, this included names and variations of names, a birthdate, current and previous addresses, and email addresses. A few services requested more information, such as the names of relatives, and some asked for a limited power of attorney and a redacted copy of a driver's license. We evaluated each service not only on its ease of setup but also on how flexible it was. For example: Some services required a full address and would not accept a partial one. That's needlessly restrictive and annoying if you don't remember the precise house number for a place you lived at 15 years ago. Once the data removal services started their work, we evaluated the breadth of information they provided to customers; the best services report where they've found your personal information, as well as what action they've taken. We also looked at what actions companies expected customers to take. Lastly, we read each service's privacy policy and contacted companies as necessary to better understand how they operated and what they did to protect customers. We culled the list of finalists to five: DeleteMe, EasyOptOuts, Incogni, Optery, and Privacy Bee. In March 2025 we recruited Wirecutter staffers to embark on a year-long journey to test each one long-term. Each person is tracking what information their assigned service says it has taken down each month. Our testers are also regularly searching for their information on a set of five data brokers that all of these data removal services claim to cover. We will continue to update this guide with their findings. I Tried, and Failed, to Disappear From the Internet You don't have to pay for a data removal service in order to get data brokers to take down your data. You can start by simply searching for your name and 'address' or 'phone number,' and browsing the results. Sites that claim to have your information should also have an option to request that it be removed; this usually involves filling out forms, responding to emails, and sometimes providing more personal information in order to prove who you are. Most of the data removal services we tested include detailed instructions to remove your data from specific data broker sites. Some, like DeleteMe and Optery, perform a free scan to start you off in finding the companies selling your data. Others, such as Kanary Copilot and Consumer Reports's Permission Slip, help identify data brokers and streamline removal requests, but you still do the bulk of the work. Alternatively, you can skip engaging with data brokers and instead try to have search results that contain your personal information suppressed. Google's Results About You tool generates reports about sites that might have your personal information and allows you to request that such sites be removed from search results. Even after I had most of my data removed from broker websites, Results About You still found and removed several results that listed my information. However, the data brokers still have my data — it's just not as easy to find. DeleteMe for MacOS DeleteMe is easy to set up and even easier to use: For $129 a year, you receive periodic reports on what data it has removed on your behalf, but otherwise it does the work for you. With a successful track record that stretches back more than a decade, DeleteMe may well be the original data removal service. The company offers a comprehensive and hands-off approach to removing your data, and we specifically appreciate the breadth of information that DeleteMe covers and its flexibility regarding how much information you provide. DeleteMe's high-quality experience and thoughtful design make it stand out from the rest, even services that cover more data brokers. Setting up your account is painless and comprehensive. DeleteMe, like other data removal services, requires you to enter your legal name and several variations on it at setup. We really liked that it frequently needed only partial information, such as the city and state, but not street, of previous addresses. That's great, because we couldn't remember every place we've lived over the past two decades. Some data brokers, on the profiles they construct about you, list people they think are related to you, so we liked that DeleteMe was one of the very few data removal services that let us include information on family members in our profile. DeleteMe doesn't remove relatives' information (at least, not without a family plan), but this information might improve its results. DeleteMe does have two requirements that might scare some new users: It asks that you grant it a limited power of attorney and upload a redacted photo of an ID, such as a driver's license. The former allows the company to act on your behalf; it's restricted to data removal activities, and you can revoke it at any time. The latter ensures that you are who you say you are, and DeleteMe includes tools for removing your ID number in its uploader. Five of the nine data removal services we tested asked for a limited power of attorney, but only DeleteMe and Optery asked for a state ID. You never have to interact with it again — if you don't want to. Once you set up DeleteMe, you don't need to do anything else. Within seven days you receive your first report detailing what DeleteMe has done on your behalf. The company then emails you fresh reports quarterly on what it has found or removed, and it occasionally asks permission to add a new data broker to search (you should grant that permission). If you want to log in more frequently, you can view a large, colorful chart that DeleteMe updates with how much information it has removed on your behalf, and you can browse old reports, too. It offers additional tools that can keep your information out of data brokers' hands. You can create masked emails that automatically forward to your primary email address, which you can use to sign up for services and then abandon if they become overwhelmed with spam. You can also create masked phone numbers that forward to your real phone number, which gives you an additional layer of privacy, though they cost $7 per number. The DeleteMe Search Yourself tool lets you run Google searches and then mark the results as something you want to keep, something you want removed, or something that's not related to you. (Privacy Bee has a similar Manage Trust tool, but DeleteMe's is easier to understand.) You can also submit custom removal requests, in a separate form. DeleteMe is reasonably priced, compared with the competition. Across the data removal services we looked at, we found an average annual cost of about $118 — just a few dollars less than DeleteMe's $129-per-year price tag. If you decide to cancel your subscription, DeleteMe will prorate the cost and refund you. DeleteMe also offers a repeatable free scan of data brokers and includes numerous DIY guides that can help you send your own take-down requests. Flaws but not dealbreakers It doesn't show much proof of its work. Optery includes detailed screenshots of the data brokers that are selling your information, and it updates those frequently. In contrast, DeleteMe has a more hands-off approach: It sends you quarterly reports listing the sites and types of information for sale but offers no screenshots to back that up. It doesn't cover as many data brokers as other services do. On its website, DeleteMe lists hundreds of data brokers it searches and sends removal requests to, but if you subtract all the ones that are limited to corporate-account tiers or special requests, the list shrinks to about 100. Optery and Privacy Bee cover 635 and 914 brokers, respectively, but also cost significantly more. However, you can ask DeleteMe to take down other information you come across using the custom removal request option. Does covering more data brokers necessarily give you better results? That's something we'll be looking at in our long-term testing. Set-and-forget means you won't get much feedback. We think most people would prefer a service that demands very little time and attention, but DeleteMe's approach does come at the cost of your knowing what it's up to. Kanary Copilot, Optery, and many other data removal services show a stream of new information about where your data is and what the company is doing about it. With DeleteMe, you have to trust the process. EasyOptOuts EasyOptOuts matches its barebones design with an affordable annual price. It's the cheapest data removal service we've tested, and it gets the job done. EasyOptOuts offers a simple, low-risk way to try a data removal service. It's far cheaper than the other services we tested, and although it doesn't give you as many features, its low price makes it a solid, entry-level option to start removing your data from the internet. It's so cheap. EasyOptOuts costs $20 per year — not per month, per year. That's a fraction of the cost of our top pick. Just about anyone can afford to sign up. It's a set-and-forget experience. Like DeleteMe, EasyOptOuts doesn't give you real-time updates on where it has found your data. Three times a year, it sends you an email listing the data brokers that EasyOptOuts found with your information, as well as the companies that it has asked to remove your data. These reports aren't even available on the EasyOptOuts site, so be sure not to miss any in your inbox. EasyOptOut's website lists 111 data brokers it covers. That's less than most of the other services we tested but a bit more than DeleteMe's core offering. EasyOptOuts also lists 26 additional data brokers that the company claims are downstream from brokers it does cover, and says that your information will likely disappear from them, as well. The company says that you can email requests for the service to look at a specific data broker. DeleteMe's custom removal request system is more robust. EasyOptOuts told us that it uses an entirely automated system for removing customer data. Its FAQ page notes that one major data broker uses 'an opt-out process that [EasyOptOuts] can't support.' We'll be curious to see if this automated approach yields good results in our long-term testing. Flaws but not dealbreakers The low price comes at the cost of features and flexibility. The reports from EasyOptOuts are extremely light reading. They don't even include what information it found (which DeleteMe reports) or screenshots (which Optery provides). Although you can email and request that EasyOptOuts look at a particular data broker, the company told us that its system is entirely automated, so we're skeptical that this could be as effective as the custom removal requests that other companies offer. Entering information isn't as easy as with our top pick. It's tricky to enter your information into EasyOptOuts, because the service places annoying limits on name variations and requires complete addresses. EasyOptOuts told us that it hasn't undergone any third-party audits. That isn't a dealbreaker, but we would like to see the company invest in more ways to prove its trustworthiness to customers. DeleteMe has undergone third-party audits of both its internal security practices and its financials. Share this article with a friend. We found a lot to like about Optery. Its tiered pricing is flexible for tight budgets, and it lets you choose between providing additional information or having it search only a smaller (but still large) pool of data brokers. Optery is also one of the few data removal services that show screenshots of data broker sites as proof that those brokers hold your information. It does come at a cost, however: Although pricing starts at $39 a year, you need to pay $249 to get custom removals. We prefer our top pick. We like the slick look of DuckDuckGo Privacy Pro. We also appreciate that it stores the personal information you provide on your computer, not on DuckDuckGo's servers. At $100 a year, Privacy Pro is reasonably priced, but it's bundled with other services that you may not use, so judging its value was harder for us. Also, you must have the DuckDuckGo browser installed to use it. Still, if you're particularly privacy-conscious, you might want to take a look at this service — but only if you need a bundle. If there's an 800-pound gorilla among data removal services, it's Privacy Bee. For $197 a year, this company searches for your data across a staggering 914 data brokers. However, we found Privacy Bee's interface overwhelming and its system for trusting some companies with your data questionably useful. Its account-setup process leaves a lot to be desired, too. Permission Slip by Consumer Reports is an iPhone-only app that gamifies managing your data with a Tinder-style interface and provides templates for you to easily send removal requests to companies that sell your information. It doesn't search for your data as other services do, so it isn't a data removal service in the same sense as our top pick, but it does walk you through how to send data removal requests to many sites and companies that aren't traditional data brokers, such as Wendy's and Slack. If you pay $60 a year, it will blast out removal requests to a preset list of 100 data brokers and have a human fill out 25 removal requests on your behalf. Our top pick is more comprehensive. Surfshark VPN is behind Incogni, a well-designed service that costs $99 a year, but that price increases to $180 when you add the option for unlimited custom removals. Incogni's most compelling offer is its family plan, which covers five people for $198. We like the detail that Incogni provides about where it has found your data and what it has done, but our top pick is cheaper and easier to use. Kanary Copilot is an unusual service that requires you to download the iPhone app to create an account, but after you've created it, you can access it from any web browser. Like Permission Slip, Kanary Copilot is adept at helping you better control who has your data and provides much of its service for free, but as with that service, we disliked having to take action on our own to get data removed. We like its design and ease of setup, but Malwarebytes Personal Data Remover does only so much automatically — to address everything the service found, we had to follow the included instructions to request the data removal ourselves. If you're keen on privacy or a fan of Firefox, Mozilla Monitor seems like an easy choice, but this service is not what it seems. The data removal services under Mozilla Monitor's hood are provided by OneRep, whose founder has admitted to also founding several data brokers. Mozilla has pledged to find a new vendor, but at this writing OneRep is still powering Mozilla Monitor. This article has been updated to clarify EasyOptOut's compatibility with major data brokers. This article was edited by Caitlin McGarry and Jason Chen.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
14 Practical Steps To Protect Your Name And Logo From Digital Misuse
As brand visibility grows, so does the risk of bad actors exploiting your company's name and logo online. Fake websites, impersonator accounts and counterfeit listings can erode trust quickly, and often without warning. The good news is that there are proactive, practical steps you can take to monitor and defend your brand in the digital space. Below, 14 Forbes Business Development Council members share some key strategies to help you and your clients stay a step ahead of online fraud. 1. Deploy AI Defensively And Register IP Proactively Your brand name and logo are among your most valuable assets, and AI is making them faster and cheaper than ever to impersonate. Based on the billions of links we process annually, the most effective strategy is twofold: register your IP rights strategically, especially in high-risk and emerging markets, and proactively deploy AI to detect and remove abuse before it reaches consumers. - Daniel Shapiro, Red Points 2. Authenticate Email Channels With DMARC And BIMI From the perspective of email communication as one of the common ways scammers trick users, I'd strongly recommend protecting the brand name by implementing DMARC and BIMI, aimed at verifying that only authorized senders can use your domain and logo. This is the proven way to secure the brand from email fraud. - Alexey Kachalov, UniOne 3. Verify User Identities With Real-Time Biometric Checks One key strategy is to implement real-time identity verification for all platform users, especially sellers and affiliates. Verifying individuals with biometric and liveness checks helps prevent impersonation, protects your brand from misuse and ensures only legitimate users can associate with your name or logo online. - Luke Boddis, 4. Scan Continuously For Brand Misuse One key strategy company leaders can take is to implement proactive brand monitoring and takedown services that scan the internet for unauthorized use of their brand names, logos and domains. These tools detect phishing sites, counterfeit products and impersonation on social media—allowing companies to quickly issue takedown requests and protect their reputation. - Shay Solomon, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. 5. Leverage Smart Algorithms To Track Image-Based Fraud The ideal solution is to integrate network-based monitoring services powered by smart algorithms that can detect brand mentions not only by keywords but also by images. Today's market offers such advanced tools, enabling businesses to actively monitor copyright and brand usage. Just seconds after content appears online, you'll receive a notification, giving you the opportunity to respond instantly. - Dima Raketa, Reputation House Forbes Business Development Council is an invitation-only community for sales and biz dev executives. Do I qualify? 6. Fortify Infrastructure To Earn And Maintain Trust One often-overlooked strategy for protecting your brand is ensuring the resilience and security of the infrastructure behind it. If your core services go down, or worse, customer data is breached, that's not just an IT issue; it's a brand reputation crisis. If you want customers to trust your name, your infrastructure has to earn it every day. - Aaron Biggs, Summit 7. Design Brand Experiences That Are Hard To Imitate Brand protection is complicated and demands a layered strategy. One best practice is to design a brand experience so unique that fraud is easy to spot and hard to copy. - Scott Hozebin, Better Health 8. Embed Data Protection Into Your Brand's DNA Brand protection starts with the development of the company's data protection model. This model cannot be added to or bolted onto an existing DLP or cybersecurity process. The assurance of data protection begins with the environment in which data is developed, stored, shared and archived. This process has to ensure no burden on the employee, vendor or partner using the company's IT systems. - Mike Quinn, Active Cypher 9. Set Strategic Traps To Catch Early Fraud Attempts I haven't tried this myself, but I heard a smart idea: Create a fake version of your website with slightly off branding or layout as a 'trap.' It helps you catch scammers or bots trying to scrape content or launch phishing attacks. If anyone interacts with it, you'll get an early warning before real damage is done. It's a proactive way to protect your brand online. - Bryce Welker, The CPA Exam Guy 10. Embed Brand Vigilance Into Daily Operations Protecting your brand online isn't a one-time legal task—it's an active process, just like cybersecurity. Integrate brand monitoring into your daily sales and marketing workflows. Track where and how your name appears, flag inconsistencies and respond fast. Real-time vigilance is the only way to stay ahead of digital fraud. - Umang Modi, TIAG, Inc. 11. Register, Monitor, Educate And Enforce Legally registering the brand name and logo gives the exclusive right to use them and take legal action against illegal use. Regularly search and report fake websites, social media profiles or apps faking your brand, and initiate the takedown actions. Educate stakeholders to identify fake emails, spoofed sites or counterfeit products, and provide channels for verification or reporting. - Salice Thomas, Wipro Limited 12. Gamify Brand Audits To Foster Company-Wide Engagement It is the role of the company as well as each of its employees to be part of protecting the brand. Awareness and training, followed by the use of software that sweeps the web for use of your brand and logo every month, will help audit the compliant use of your company's logo and brand online. Gamifying the audit process for employees beyond your IT department's job will help as well. - Anoma Baste, Space Matrix 13. Treat Brand Protection As An Operational Risk Function Brand protection should be treated as a digital risk discipline, not just a trademark issue. Assign clear cross-functional ownership, integrate detection workflows into core business operations and tie enforcement to brand trust metrics. What protects your brand online also protects your long-term reputation. - Alexander Masters, MBA, BIDA, Siemens 14. Assign Ownership At The Top To Review And Adapt Rapidly Online fraud is a dilemma, becoming complicated by the day as fraudsters are leveraging the very tools and technologies you require to be more productive. Your strategy needs to be reviewed at brisk iterations or at any major global or regional change, since what is relevant today may not be next quarter. Assign ownership to a leader in your key decision-making group to be hands-on in this area. - Mustansir Paliwala, Zomara Group
Forbes
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Elmo Hack Shows Why No Brand Is Safe On Social Media
Even a beloved character like Elmo isn't immune to cyber threats—a reminder that online security ... More matters for everyone. On Sunday, thousands of fans saw something they never expected: Elmo, the happy red monster from Sesame Street, posting hate speech on X (formerly Twitter). Antisemitic and racist messages, plus a political attack, suddenly appeared on an account best known for family-friendly jokes and positivity. Sesame Workshop, the group behind Elmo, moved quickly to delete the posts and call them 'disgusting.' But for many, the damage was already done. This wasn't just another celebrity account hack. This was Elmo. This was the digital hijacking of a character almost everyone trusts. The Elmo hack is a sharp reminder that no one is off-limits in the age of cyber threats, and that even a few minutes of access can have lasting consequences. Trusted Brands, Real-World Risks Hackers love going after big names. When they get into an account with millions of followers—or one tied to a trusted brand—they can spread their message farther and faster than on any anonymous account. This incident doesn't appear to be about money or data theft. It was about taking something people trust and using it to shock, offend, and divide. For years, Elmo's account has been a place where people could count on lighthearted, wholesome content. Seeing that same account spew hate—even for a short time—breaks the spell. It creates confusion and hurt. It makes people question what, and who, they can trust online. 'The breach of Elmo's X account is sad to see, especially because Elmo and the Sesame Street gang represent love and kindness,' declared Anne Cutler, cybersecurity evangelist at Keeper Security. 'It's scary to experience a cyberattack, but Elmo knows that bad experiences can teach us valuable lessons. Cybersecurity may seem daunting, but staying safe online is for everyone – including Elmo, kids and their trusted adults.' The Long Shadow of Deleted Posts Sesame Workshop acted fast. The offensive messages came down quickly, and the organization said it was working to restore control of the account. But by then, screenshots were already making the rounds on other platforms. Even after posts are deleted, their impact sticks around. This is one of the hardest realities of the internet: once something is out there, it's almost impossible to pull back. For brands, viral screenshots can damage years of careful reputation-building in a matter of minutes. Where Security Fails Most hacks like this don't require a master cybercriminal. The tools are simple: weak or reused passwords, lack of multi-factor authentication, or falling for a phishing link. Many organizations, especially those handling well-known accounts, still haven't locked down their security basics. Cutler's advice is clear: 'The first steps to online security start with the basics: use strong passwords and store them in a password manager, turn on multifactor authentication for all of your accounts, learn how to recognize and report phishing, and update software as soon as updates become available.' Programs like Flex Your Cyber—a collaborative project with groups including the National Cybersecurity Alliance and making cybersecurity education more accessible for everyone. They offer videos, games, and toolkits for kids, and families. The idea is simple: make online safety part of everyday life, for kids and adults alike. And it matters. Research has found that 30% of parents admit they have never talked to their children about cybersecurity. Cutler stresses, 'Cybersecurity starts at home, which is why we have a responsibility to support and educate the children in our lives about online safety and security.' Lessons and Next Steps If there's one thing the Elmo hack makes clear, it's that security is everyone's problem. For organizations, that means making sure social media accounts are protected with the same rigor as bank accounts or email. For platforms, it means taking reports seriously and responding at the speed of the internet. But it also falls to all of us to stay sharp, question what we see, and remember that even the friendliest face online can be turned against us for a moment. Cutler and Flex Your Cyber recommend four simple steps for families: Online trust is fragile, and every hack like this chips away at it. We can't stop every attack, but we can do more to prepare. As hate groups and bad actors get bolder, it's important not to leave the keys to the digital kingdom under the doormat—no matter whose name is on the account. Together, we can help all children—and our Sesame Street friends—flex their own cybersecurity to keep online troublemakers away.
