Optery

In the seventh installment of our Privacy Protectors Spotlight series, we’re excited to feature Debbie Reynolds, known worldwide as “The Data Diva.” As the Founder, CEO, and Chief Data Privacy Officer of Debbie Reynolds Consulting LLC, Debbie has spent over 20 years at the forefront of Data Privacy and Emerging Technology. She is also host of the award-winning “The Data Diva Talks Privacy” podcast, a leading resource in the data privacy space with a large global following. Debbie’s thought leadership has been featured in The New York Times, Wired, USA Today, Business Insider, and other major outlets. In her interviews, writings, and presentations, Debbie explores an extensive array of issues and technologies that impact privacy at both organizational and individual levels. Her insights range from corporate accountability and emerging privacy laws to ethical concerns around AI, biometrics, and data brokerage. Through her consultancy, she and her team are able to take the organizational challenges posed by the intersection of data privacy, regulations, and technology, and turn those into business advantages. Debbie’s prescient outlook on technology trends and their impacts on privacy has been a hallmark of her work, empowering individuals to become more vigilant and guiding organizations to act appropriately. Debbie’s work exemplifies her deep commitment to helping others understand, prepare for, and navigate the evolving data privacy landscape. At Optery, we are greatly inspired by Debbie’s work and are happy to spotlight her for her outstanding contributions to data privacy. Read the full spotlight on Debbie Reynolds and join us in recognizing her important work! https://lnkd.in/duHCkbgk #Dataprivacy #dataprotection #emergingtechnology

Attackers can use exposed personal data found on data broker sites to find and crack a target’s passwords and then reuse them across different platforms in credential stuffing attacks. Personal data removal is a proactive way to defend against this. #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #StaySafeOnline #Cybersecurity

Protect your organization from Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks by proactively removing exposed employee personal data. BEC often begins with phishing, where attackers exploit personal information to impersonate employees or executives and gain access to sensitive accounts. Exposed personal data can also be entered into breach repositories, leading to password cracking and account takeovers. #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #StaySafeOnline #Cybersecurity

Protect your employees from spear-phishing attacks by reducing their personal data exposure. Phishing is fueled by data found online. Removing this data limits an attacker’s ability to effectively target your employees and lowers the volume of attacks. #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #StaySafeOnline #Cybersecurity

Smishing and vishing attacks have exploded in recent years. Protect your team by removing personal phone numbers and other sensitive data from online sources. #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #StaySafeOnline #Cybersecurity

Team Optery just returned from our 2024 offsite meeting in Minneapolis, and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead! We focused on new ways to continue delivering the world’s best personal data removal software, while strengthening the bonds within our talented and dedicated team. As you can see from the pics, we had a little fun, too! We’re looking forward to what’s next and are grateful to our amazing clients and team for making it all possible! #Optery #PersonalDataRemoval #Innovation

Credential harvesting campaigns are a major threat to organizations. They are enabled by publicly available personal data on data broker sites, especially those sites that link phone numbers to employees at specific organizations. Removing your employees' data from these sites can prevent your team from being targeted. #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #StaySafeOnline #Cybersecurity

It’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and social engineering remains a top threat to businesses! Social engineering attacks exploit exposed personal data to manipulate employees into divulging sensitive information or granting unauthorized access. Removing this data significantly limits an attacker’s ability to create convincing pretexts and trick your team. #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #StaySafeOnline #Cybersecurity

Optery is now included on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) resources page for high-risk communities, providing free and discounted services to help mitigate cyber and physical risks. Curated by CISA in partnership with the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) participants and other leaders in cybersecurity and civil society, this page offers a catalog of critical resources designed for communities at heightened risk of being targeted by malicious actors because of their identity or work. They aim to assess and mitigate risk, offer support during digital emergencies, and strengthen cyber defenses. Contributing to these, Optery offers free and discounted tools and services for high-risk groups to find and remove exposed personal information from the internet, significantly reducing the risk of cyber and physical threats. Check out the resources here: https://lnkd.in/denb8Nvg #cybersecurity #personaldataremoval #privacy

Credential-based attacks and spear phishing continue to dominate as top cyber threats. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), alongside the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), recently released their FY23 Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA) Report. The report analyzed critical security weaknesses across federal, state, local, and private sector infrastructure, including maritime critical infrastructure. Among its findings, Valid Accounts were the most common successful attack technique, responsible for 41% of successful attempts. A common method under this tactic is cracking password hashes, which was successful in 89% of USCG assessments to access Domain Administrator accounts. Before cracking password hashes, attackers must first obtain them. One of the easiest ways to do so is to leverage exposed personal information online and enter that info on breach repository sites. These sites often return cleartext passwords and password hashes that are associated with the accounts linked to the target’s personal data. Once obtained, attackers can then crack the password hashes using specialized tools and wordlists. The second most common successful attack technique according to the report was Spear Phishing. This is a form of social engineering in which an attacker exploits the personal data of a target and poses as a trusted source to lure the target into unwittingly providing sensitive data or access to the recipient's network or system. While the report recommends strong password policies, phishing awareness training, and phishing-resistant MFA among its mitigations, personal data removal provides a critical preventative layer of defense against both credential-based attacks and spear phishing. By minimizing exposed personal data, you make it harder for attackers to obtain your password information in the first place, and significantly reduce your likelihood of being targeted via social engineering. #passwordcracking #spearphishing #personaldataremoval 🔑 Link in comments to the full report.