Let’s talk about a reality that keeps security teams up at night: your CEO is likely the most exposed person in your organization.
The Visibility Paradox
Today’s business leaders face what we call the “visibility paradox” – they need to be out front as the face of the company while simultaneously becoming prime targets for bad actors. This tension between necessary visibility and security isn’t just theoretical – it’s backed by hard data that reveals a startling reality.
Our research on over 10,000 C-Suite executives in the USA shows that 93% have at least one home address exposed on the public web across an average of 11 different data broker profiles. Even more concerning, 99.97% have been involved in data breaches, with the average executive appearing in 43 separate breaches. These aren’t just numbers – they’re digital breadcrumbs that create a reconnaissance map for sophisticated attacks.
Why We Needed Something Different
When we rebranded from Picnic to VanishID this month, we knew we needed to address this critical gap in the cybersecurity ecosystem. Our recent $10M funding round led by Dell Technologies Capital (with participation from Mark McLaughlin, former CEO of Palo Alto Networks) has given us the resources to build something truly different for the most vulnerable executives.
The typical approach to CEO protection focuses on either physical security or technical controls. However, our research indicates that these solutions overlook the fundamental source of risk: exposed personally identifiable information (PII). When a CEO’s personal data is scattered across the internet, it creates attack vectors that bypass even the most sophisticated security systems.
The Growing Threat Landscape
In our detailed report, Leadership at Risk in a Data-Exposed World, we document how the threat landscape has evolved dramatically. Social engineering has become increasingly sophisticated, with attackers using exposed personal information to craft hyper-targeted approaches.
The distance between cybersecurity and physical safety continues to narrow. What starts as exposed data can quickly escalate to sophisticated social engineering, account takeover, impersonation, harassment, or even physical threats.
Furthermore, deepfake scams make weaponizing exposed CEO PII even more dangerous than it used to be just a year ago. We illustrated this threat when we appointed Rachel Tobac (ethical hacker and CEO of SocialProof Security) and Robert Lee (CEO of Dragos) to demonstrate how CEO’s exposed information can be exploited for social engineering attacks using today’s AI tools.
What Makes CEO Protection Different
Our CEO Protection package doesn’t just address surface-level symptoms – it neutralizes risk at the source. What makes it unique:
- Family coverage: Protection extends to up to 25 family members or close associates. Why? Because attackers don’t just target the CEO directly – they go after the softer targets in their circle. Our data shows family information is “cross-pollinated” between data broker records, creating multiple avenues of exposure.
- Red Team Assessment: We combine physical and digital exposure analysis to provide an unbiased view of how threat actors could target the CEO and their circle. This challenges internal protection planning and addresses cognitive biases that naturally develop over time.
- Home Network Security: Once an executive’s address is identified, their home becomes a potential target for espionage and other sophisticated threats. Our package includes securing home networks against snooping and intrusions.
- Zero Effort Implementation: The most secure solutions are the ones that actually get used. Our fully automated service requires no extra work from executives or security teams.
The Power of Agentic AI Systems
What truly sets our CEO Protection package apart is our Agentic Remediation technology. Unlike traditional manual data removal solutions that rely on offshore labor or require constant human intervention, our adaptive agents support continuous data removal.
Combined with our well-established broker scanning suite and our AI-powered search results analysis tools, our solution doesn’t just find exposed information – it takes action. The system:
- Autonomously identifies personal information across hundreds of websites
- Automatically initiates and completes takedown processes
- Continuously monitors for new exposures as they appear
- Adapts its scanning patterns based on discovered information and emerging threat intelligence
This level of automation means protection isn’t dependent on human availability or attention spans. Whether it’s 3 PM or 3 AM, our agentic AI is actively reducing digital exposure and maintaining a protective shield around executives and their families.
As Raman Khanna, Managing Director at Dell Technologies Capital noted during our recent funding announcement, “In a market traditionally served by consumer solutions reliant on manual offshore labor, VanishID has created the first enterprise-grade, agentic AI solution that solves this problem at scale.”
Moving From Detection to Prevention
Traditional security approaches focus on detection and response – identifying threats after they’ve already materialized. Our CEO Protection package represents a fundamental shift toward prevention – eliminating the data that enables attacks in the first place.
By continuously monitoring and neutralizing public data exposure, we help security teams address a critical blind spot: the human attack surface that exists outside the corporate perimeter.
Is CEO Protection Right for Your Organization?
If your organization has high-profile leadership, handles sensitive information, operates globally, or faces heightened security concerns, the CEO Protection package provides comprehensive coverage that addresses the unique challenges executives face.
Want to see what you can accomplish without effort? Learn more about our service plans and how VanishID can help protect your organization’s most valuable human assets.
Remember: It’s not just about protecting one person – it’s about protecting your entire organization from risks that begin with exposed personal data.
About VanishID (Formerly Picnic)
VanishID is an agentic AI-powered company that neutralizes public data exposure for organizations and their employees. By continuously monitoring and reducing exposure to open-source intelligence (OSINT), VanishID extends security beyond the corporate perimeter, safeguarding business continuity and organizational integrity.