Author: Matias Comella

Matias is a cybersecurity marketing veteran with 25 years of experience across demand generation, brand marketing, and product marketing. Driven by his passion for information security, he spent a decade at a Fortune 500 cybersecurity giant and has since worked with various early-stage startups, helping transform cutting-edge security innovations into market successes.

AI Hacking: The Next Generation of Phishing Scams

In early 2024, a sophisticated deep-fake scam targeted WPP, the world’s largest advertising group. Fraudsters created a WhatsApp account using the CEO’s photo and then organized a Microsoft Teams meeting in which the executives’ voices and images were convincingly cloned via... Read More

Cyber Hygiene for C-Suite Executives: Online Safety Tips

Cybercriminals no longer see CEOs and senior leaders as just another target; they see them as the jackpot. A 2024 Verizon DBIR report noted that executives were five times more likely than regular employees to be the subject of social engineering attacks.... Read More

Stealer Logs Explained: What They Are and How Hackers Use Them

Every year, billions of login credentials and session cookies get traded on underground platforms. In 2024 alone, infostealers grabbed 2.1 billion credentials, representing nearly two-thirds of all credentials stolen that year.  Meanwhile, device infections from data-stealing malware have surged. In... Read More

The Ultimate Guide to Deleting Yourself From the Internet (And Reclaiming Your Privacy)

As we spend more and more time on the internet, we easily lose control of our digital identity, which is not just inconvenient but actually dangerous. With every online form you fill out, social media post you share, or website... Read More

How to Prevent Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks: Essential Strategies to Stay Safe Online

Social engineering is the art of manipulating people into giving up confidential information, often by posing as a trusted source. Phishing is a common form of social engineering that involves deceptive emails, messages, or websites designed to trick you into... Read More

Picnic is now VanishID

We are thrilled to announce that Picnic Corporation is now doing business as VanishID. Why the Change? As our company has evolved, our work increasingly involves non-security employees and executives who may not be familiar with the history behind the Picnic... Read More

Safe at Work, Safe at Home: The Case for Extending Digital Protection to Families

Scammers are getting smarter, and their tactics more sophisticated. They don’t just go after businesses or high-profile individuals anymore—they target everyday people, often during their most vulnerable moments. We recently witnessed a heartbreaking scam of the type that triggered Jason... Read More

The first page of Google search results about you is a lot scarier than the dark web

The first page of Google search results about you is a lot scarier than the dark web. But news organizations and some security vendors love to scare people about the dark web, so I thought I’d offer some thoughts on that... Read More

How to Remove Yourself from TruthFinder – Step-by-Step Opt-Out Guide and Tips

TruthFinder is a people-search website that gathers personal details like phone numbers, addresses, relatives, and even social media profiles into one easy-to-find report. While this can be convenient for background checks, it also means your sensitive information is exposed to... Read More

Reactive vs. Proactive Security Controls: Why CISOs Must Shift Focus

Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) are like sailing captains navigating their organizations through treacherous waters. The threats are ever-changing, and the stakes are incredibly high. Shifting winds sometimes originate from within the organization’s top leadership, not just from external events,... Read More

How to Opt Out of Public Information Services – Step-by-Step Removal & Security Help

While visiting Public Information Services (sometimes called PublicInfoServices), you might be surprised to learn just how much of your personal data is available there. These types of background check websites gather information from public records and make it easily searchable,... Read More

How to Opt Out of the Florida Residents Directory – Step-by-Step Guide for Data Protection

If you’re a Florida resident, your personal information may be publicly accessible through the Florida Residents directory. This searchable database compiles names, addresses, and other identifying details without anyone’s consent. While this data is technically legal to publish, it can... Read More

Enhancing Security Against Social Engineering: Safeguarding Customer Interaction Centers and IT Support Teams

Customer service centers, commonly known as call centers and IT support teams, often referred to as help desks, are becoming an increasingly popular target for threat actors to infiltrate organizations through social engineering. These employee groups typically possess elevated privileges... Read More

Protecting Against Social Engineering and Credential Stuffing

NIST CSF, MITRE ATT&CK, and HASP frameworks In today’s digital world, the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats poses significant challenges for organizations. Two major concerns are social engineering and credential stuffing, the attack vectors responsible for most breaches. Organizations rely... Read More

How to Opt Out of ThatsThem – Delete Your Personal Info Step-by-Step

ThatsThem is one of many data broker websites that collect and publish personal details like your name, address, age, and phone number, usually without your permission. These sites pull personal data from public records and use all the gathered information... Read More

How to Proactively Protect Your Organization’s High-Value Targets

Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to exploit the exposed personal data of high-value targets to breach companies. High-value targets (HVTs) are those individuals within an organization who have access to sensitive information or assets and have the potential to... Read More

VanishID joins the Tidal Product Registry™

We all know that the cybersecurity vendor landscape is extensive and looks complex. Although there is a gap in cybersecurity talent worldwide, there’s certainly no lack of products in the marketplace that provide defenders with threat visibility and security controls.... Read More

Threat-Informed Defense for Human Attack Surface: Mapping Threat Intelligence to Target Intelligence

The exploitation of human attack surface data and a crucial intelligence gap According to Verizon’s 2022 DBIR report, stolen passwords and phishing were the top two techniques used by threat actors last year, accounting for around 70% of all analyzed breaches.... Read More

CEO fraud: Protecting executives protects everyone

Cybercriminals do what they do for money. According to the 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report, 96% of data breaches were caused by external actors motivated by financial or personal gain. In order to maximize their return on investment, these cybercriminals take... Read More

VanishID and SLNT: Protecting your organization’s people from compromise by safeguarding their personal information

Exploitation through easily accessible sensitive personal information is the single largest threat to companies and their people today. It’s how nearly all cyber-attacks begin and is at the root of all manner of human and organizational compromise. In this article,... Read More

For Lapsus$ social engineers, the attack vector is dealer’s choice

By Matt Polak, CEO of VanishID Two weeks ago, at a closed meeting of cyber leaders focused on emerging threats, the group agreed that somewhere between “most” and “100%” of cyber incidents plaguing their organizations pivoted on social engineering. That’s no... Read More

How to sharpen your corporate social media policy for today’s threats

Using social media is, without a doubt, one of the most popular online activities that internet users engage in. Businesses have also discovered how to leverage social media to create opportunities for their brands. However, the use of these platforms... Read More

Cybercrime awareness is no longer enough to reduce risk

People’s perceptions have changed. Not so long ago we thought nothing of kids playing outside all day alone, unchaperoned visits to a friend’s house, walking to school alone – the list goes on. But as times have changed, we have... Read More

How much control have we given up just to enjoy the digital life?

We all enjoy life in the digital age and the Internet provides us connectivity, efficiency and fun. By submitting some of our personal data into online interfaces, we enjoy significant benefits in the form of services tailored to our needs;... Read More

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