When you combine those details with realistic voice cloning tools, an attacker no longer needs malware. They have a customized script. As cybersecurity expert Dave Trader highlights in his breakdown on executive OSINT and profiling, attackers search leadership teams long before reaching out. With just an audio snippet taken from an interview or public panel, they can call your finance department, mimic the CEO’s voice, and request an urgent wire transfer. According to advisories from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, sophisticated BEC attacks (business email compromise) cost organizations billions every year. It represents one of the most calculated forms of social engineering today.

The trouble is that most organizations never look at what their leaders expose to the open web. Criminals do that homework every day. By stepping into the shoes of an adversary, you can see what they see, close the easiest gaps, and protect your team before a crisis happens.

Moving from Concern to Control

Security discussions often focus on dread and worst-case scenarios, but panic does not stop financial fraud. Practical clarity does. You do not need an army of physical bodyguards or bloated consulting contracts to defend against executive impersonation.

At PC Matic, we believe effective defense begins with smart habits and clear boundaries. When you understand how adversaries gather intelligence, you gain the confidence to disrupt their playbooks. Protecting your leadership is entirely manageable once you break it down into repeatable actions.

Here is a straightforward 3-step action plan you can implement right away.

3 Practical Steps to Neutralize Executive Profiling

1. Audit Your Leadership Team

Pick your top leaders, board members, and anyone with the authority to move company funds or grant network access. Run an honest audit on their digital footprint:

• Search their full names alongside personal phone numbers, home locations, and current email addresses.
• Run work and personal email accounts through reputable breach-checking databases like Have I Been Pwned to spot exposed credentials.
• Review public data broker registries and submit opt-out requests to strip personal addresses and family names from public directories.
• Catalog any public video recordings or podcasts. Treat every public voice sample as raw material an attacker could use for deepfake audio generation.

Documenting these exposures gives you an accurate view of your actual threat surface. Always secure your executives’ consent first, and treat the findings as confidential intelligence.

2. Secure the Personal Perimeter

Attackers do not respect the line between corporate hardware and personal devices. In fact, they actively target personal email inboxes and home routers to stage broader cyberattacks against workplace infrastructure.

Schedule a brief thirty-minute session with each executive to configure simple defensive protections:

• Equip them with a reputable password manager so they never reuse passwords across accounts.
• Turn on hardware-backed or authenticator-based multi-factor authentication across their personal email, banking portals, and cloud drives.
• Add a carrier account PIN and enable port-out locks on their cellular lines to prevent SIM-swapping.
• Verify that automatic firmware updates are enabled on their home Wi-Fi routers and personal phones.

Walking through these tasks together ensures they actually get finished. Busy executives appreciate quick, guided setups that respect their time.

3. Establish Clear Verification Rules for Urgent Requests

Urgency is the primary weapon in high-stakes fraud. Fraudsters want your accounting department to act before they think. You can neutralize this pressure entirely by establishing standard operating procedures long before an emergency arrives:

• Enforce out-of-band callbacks: Any request to alter vendor banking details, initiate an unplanned wire transfer, or reset administrative credentials must require a direct phone call to a pre-verified internal number. Never use the contact info listed in the incoming email or text.
• Empower staff to pause: Give finance personnel, administrative assistants, and junior staff explicit, written authority to halt transactions and verify authenticity, even if the request appears to come directly from the CEO.
• Ban off-channel business moves: Require all official communications involving funds or network credentials to remain inside verified corporate channels, rather than shifting to personal SMS or third-party messaging apps.
• Normalize reporting: Encourage employees to report unusual calls or strange inquiries immediately without fear of reprimand.

Once these rules are documented, test them. Run a brief simulation with your finance team based on guidelines from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. See if team members pause to verify an unusual wire request before hitting approve.

Taking Control of Your Organization’s Digital Safety

While internal policies stop social engineering traps, external cleanup reduces the risk in the first place. High-profile executives and key personnel frequently have their cell numbers, residential addresses, and family connections cataloged across dozens of commercial data brokers. That data fuels spear-phishing campaigns and credential attacks.

To remove this exposed information without spending hours submitting manual requests, explore PC Matic Delist for Businesses. Delist systematically monitors and scrubs executive personal records from data broker directories, shrinking the target on your leadership team. When you combine proactive data removal with consistent identity verification, you deny criminals the raw material they need to run their schemes.

Cybersecurity does not have to feel overwhelming. By taking smart, practical precautions today, you protect your leadership, prevent costly business disruptions, and give your entire company genuine peace of mind.

You sit down at a coffee shop, library, or hotel lobby and connect to the free WiFi. A few minutes later, you’re checking your email or bank balance. It isn’t until later that you realize your VPN was never turned on.

It happens to almost everyone. A VPN only protects you when it’s running, and remembering to switch it on every time is one more thing on your already long to-do list. That’s exactly the gap Auto-Connect is designed to close.

What Auto-Connect Does for You

A VPN (virtual private network) creates a private, encrypted connection between your device and the internet. On public WiFi, where you can’t be sure who else is on the network, that keeps your activity private and much harder for anyone nearby to snoop on.

Auto-connect makes sure that protection is there without you having to think about it. With it turned on, PC Matic VPN starts up on its own when your computer does, and reconnects by itself if the connection drops. PC Matic sets this up for you by default, but settings can change after an update or a troubleshooting session, so it’s worth a quick check.

How to Turn On Auto-Connect in PC Matic

These steps are for PC Matic on a Windows computer, where the VPN is built right in. It only takes a minute.

1. Open the VPN settings. Open PC Matic, click the VPN tab on the left side of the window, then click VPN Settings.
2. Go to Connection and turn on the automatic options. Make sure Auto-connect at Startup and Reconnect after an Interruption are both turned on.
3. Connect once to finish. Go back to the VPN tab and click Quick Connect. From now on, your VPN will start on its own each time you turn on your computer.

Optional: Let the VPN Know When You’re Home

If you’d rather have the VPN switch on only when you leave home, you can do that too. With the default Reliability settings and Smart Connection Rules, your VPN turns on automatically when you leave your trusted zone and off again when you return. PC Matic’s Trusted Zoning guide walks through every option.

Protection That’s Ready When You Are

With auto-connect turned on, your VPN is working before you open your first email of the day. You can join public WiFi and know your connection is secure and your browsing will remain private. 

For spending just a few minutes in your settings, that’s substantial peace of mind. 

Few security controls have as much backing as application allowlisting. NIST and CISA recommend it, and frameworks like the CIS Controls treat it as foundational. If only approved software can run, ransomware never gets the chance to launch. Yet many managed service providers still don’t offer it, largely because of what deployment has traditionally demanded of an already stretched team.

Where the Friction Comes From

Many traditional tools begin with a learning mode that monitors each endpoint for days or weeks to record what normally runs. The device isn’t protected during that window, and malware already present can get learned into the baseline. Afterward, someone has to review and approve everything that was captured, device by device and client by client.

The work continues after rollout. Every browser update or line-of-business patch can trigger a block, and each block becomes a ticket. Too many frustrated users, and allowlisting gets switched off or never deployed at all.

Allowlisting That Works Out of the Box

PC Matic removes that friction at the source. Instead of asking each endpoint to learn what’s safe, PC Matic MSP starts with a global allowlist of more than 22 billion verified files and processes, spanning applications, digital certificates, and scripts.

That means no learning mode and no manual list building. Endpoints are protected under default-deny from day one, and PC Matic’s USA-based malware research team continuously analyzes and updates new software definitions, so routine updates don’t become tickets. For custom applications, you can allowlist locally by hash, digital certificate, or script. When an unknown application is blocked, admins are notified and may apply an exception across devices in seconds.

Three Steps to Roll Out Allowlisting Across Your Clients

1. Start with a pilot client

Deploy PC Matic MSP at one client with a typical software footprint and watch the block notifications for the first week. Because the global list already covers common software, most exceptions will be custom or niche applications.

2. Allowlist your own stack once

Add your RMM agent, PSA tools, backup software, and common line-of-business applications as local exceptions, then push that policy to every managed client so new clients start from a ready-made baseline.

3. Define a simple exception workflow

Decide who approves new software, how quickly requests are handled, and how clients submit them. A clear process keeps blocked-application calls fast and predictable.

Strong Prevention Without the Operational Drag

With a global allowlist doing the heavy lifting, application allowlisting becomes practical to deploy and sustainable to manage across every client you serve. Your team gets a preventive layer it can confidently offer, and your clients get protection that stays out of their way. 

Learn more about the PC Matic MSP program.

On October 20, 2026, the FBI, CISA, and international partners released a joint #StopRansomware advisory on the SafePay ransomware group. SafePay has impacted at least 600 victims across critical infrastructure sectors since August 2024 and ranks among the most active ransomware groups of 2026.

The most telling detail is how familiar the entry points are. The advisory names five CVEs, all disclosed in 2024 or earlier. Three affect VPN and firewall appliances, and two affect Veeam backup software. For SafePay, known gaps that were never closed proved to be enough.

Why This Advisory Hits MSPs Directly

At PC Matic, we see SafePay as a clear case for treating vulnerability intelligence as an operational priority, and several details in the advisory land squarely on MSPs. The first is patch lag. Across dozens of client environments, edge devices and backup servers are often the hardest systems to keep current because updates are change-sensitive and easy to push to next quarter. SafePay targets exactly that window.

Backups are another primary objective. The advisory describes operators stopping the Volume Shadow Copy Service, resetting backup NAS devices to factory settings, and in some cases deleting all network-attached backups.

SafePay also relies on the same tools MSPs use every day, including ScreenConnect for persistence and access, and AnyDesk or TeamViewer to deliver ransomware. In an MSP environment, that activity can blend in with legitimate administration.

Three Steps to Close the Gaps SafePay Exploits

Prioritize by active exploitation, not base score

Check every client’s edge and backup infrastructure against CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, starting with the five CVEs in AA26-293A. Base scores can mislead here: one of those CVEs scores just 5.0, yet it helps attackers brute-force VPN logins. Patch internet-facing systems first, and treat any device found behind as potentially compromised until its logs have been reviewed.

Separate backups from the production identity

Keep at least one offline or immutable backup copy under credentials that don’t live in the client’s Active Directory, so a stolen domain admin account can’t reach every copy. Then run a restore test. A backup that hasn’t been restored hasn’t been proven.

Close password-only remote access

Require MFA on every VPN, clientless portal, RDP gateway, and remote support tool, and enforce account lockout to block brute-force attempts. Inventory the remote access software on client endpoints and allow only the tools your team actually uses.

Turning Vulnerability Intelligence Into Policy With PC Matic MSP

PC Matic MSP‘s Real-Time CVE Policy Controls deliver real-time vulnerability threat intelligence, so your team can quickly focus on the vulnerabilities that matter and plan how to mitigate them across your clients.

That intelligence sits on top of default-deny application allowlisting, which blocks unknown software before it can execute. In a SafePay-style intrusion, an unrecognized ransomware payload can’t run, unapproved remote tools are treated like any other unknown executable, and script enforcement limits the command-line activity attackers use to move laterally.

From Backlog to Control

SafePay is a reminder that most ransomware still walks through known doors. MSPs that pair real-time vulnerability intelligence with default-deny execution control can close those doors faster and keep attackers from acting while patches roll out. 

Learn more about the PC Matic MSP program today.

Cloud storage has made file access and collaboration easier for nearly every organization. Contracts, HR records, customer data, and financial reports now sit in shared drives and storage buckets that teams can reach from anywhere. That convenience has also made cloud storage one of the most common places for business data to leak.

According to a recent analysis from cloud security firm Wiz, misconfigurations are the common thread across most cloud breaches, and they’re also the most preventable. In December 2025 alone, a single publicly accessible storage container at one HR technology platform exposed roughly 26 million resumes. Under the shared responsibility model, the cloud provider secures its infrastructure, but your organization owns the security of its data, configurations, and access policies.

Where Business Cloud Storage Breaks Down

At PC Matic, we believe effective security starts with a clear view of the gaps. For most organizations, cloud storage risk comes down to four areas.

Misconfigured storage

A single bucket or container left open to the public can expose everything inside it. Wiz research found that 72% of cloud environments have publicly exposed platform databases without sufficient access controls.

Over-permissive access

Sharing links and access tokens often grant far more than intended. In 2023, Microsoft AI researchers accidentally exposed 38TB of internal data through one access token scoped to an entire storage account instead of a few files.

Stolen credentials

In a 2024 campaign, attackers accessed roughly 165 customer environments at a major cloud data platform using usernames and passwords harvested by infostealer malware. None of the targeted accounts required multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Shadow IT

Employees connect unapproved apps to company accounts to work faster. In April 2026, a breach at cloud platform Vercel traced back to an employee granting an unsanctioned AI tool “Allow All” access to their corporate Google Workspace.

Each additional copy of a sensitive file stored in the cloud increases these risks. The more places data lives, the more access settings you can get wrong.

Three Steps to Reduce Your Cloud Storage Exposure

1. Audit storage permissions and sharing links.
   1. Inventory where sensitive data lives across every cloud account. 
   2. Remove public access that isn’t required.
   3. Replace “anyone with the link” sharing with named users.
   4. Set expiration dates on external links.
   5. Apply least-privilege access so each user and service account can reach only what it needs.
2. Lock down identities.
   1. Require MFA on every account with access to company data.
   2. Remove dormant or former-employee accounts.
   3. Review which third-party apps have access to your cloud environment and revoke anything unapproved or overly broad.
3. Move sensitive file exchange to direct file sharing.
   1. Direct peer-to-peer file sharing is ideal for contracts, financial records, sensitive documents, and proprietary information.
   2. P2P utilizes an encrypted connection and eliminates a stored copy on a third-party server. 

Stop the Malware That Steals Cloud Credentials

Many cloud storage breaches start on an employee’s endpoint, where infostealer malware quietly collects saved passwords and session tokens that attackers later use to sign in as a legitimate user.

PC Matic Pro stops that chain. Its application allowlisting uses a default-deny approach: only approved programs are allowed to run, and everything else is blocked. If an infostealer or other unknown executable lands on a device, it can’t run, and the credentials protecting your cloud data stay out of attackers’ hands.

Fewer Copies, Fewer Openings

Cloud storage will remain essential for many organizations, but it works best when it holds only what it needs to. By tightening permissions, securing identities, and sharing your most sensitive files directly, you shrink the attack surface attackers depend on. 

In basic terms, the vulnerabilities allow an attacker to compromise an unpatched server without valid credentials. While the PHP development team issued an emergency fix on October 21 and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added the exploit to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, patching across the private sector remains uneven.

Why Small and Midsize Businesses Face Dual Exposure

Unlike individual consumers, small and midsize businesses (SMBs) sit on both sides of this vulnerability: as operators of web-facing infrastructure and as consumers of enterprise cloud services.

SMBs often rely heavily on content management systems, custom web portals, and e-commerce platforms. When a vulnerability emerges in core web architecture, like that in PHP2Shell, the operational and financial stakes for businesses escalate quickly. Businesses may see direct server compromises, supply chain and vendor disruptions, and significant brand damage.

Direct Server Compromise and Data Exfiltration

An unpatched web server allows unauthorized actors to access backend databases containing customer records, payment details, proprietary documents, and employee credentials. This triggers immediate legal, regulatory, and reporting liabilities under data privacy frameworks.

Supply Chain and Vendor Disruption

Even if your primary site is hosted on a managed SaaS platform, your vendors, payment processors, marketing agencies, and internal web-based ERP tools may run on vulnerable PHP environments.

Watering-Hole Attacks and Brand Damage

Threat actors who seize control of an SMB’s website rarely stop at defacement. They frequently inject malicious scripts into trusted domains, turning legitimate business websites into distribution hubs for drive-by malware aimed at your clients and visitors.

Phishing and Business Email Compromise (BEC)

Major infrastructure vulnerabilities invariably trigger waves of opportunistic spear-phishing. Attackers masquerade as hosting providers, IT vendors, or software platforms urging staff to “click here to apply the emergency PHP security patch.”

Immediate Steps to Protect Business Operations

Mitigating infrastructure vulnerabilities requires asset management, vendor communication, and layered defense.

1. Audit and Patch All Web Deployments: Identify public-facing and internal assets utilizing PHP. For applications hosted internally, apply the appropriate patch. If you use a Managed Service Provider, request written verification that production, staging, and development environments are updated.
2. Harden Identity Controls Across the Organization: Assume that credential-scraping tools have already been deployed against vulnerable servers. Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) across all corporate services, administrative panels, and email accounts.
3. Update Network Hardware and Embedded Systems: PHP environments are not limited to traditional servers; they are embedded in network gateways, storage appliances (NAS), and office routers. Ensure internal IT audits check firmware for routers, firewalls, and edge appliances as hardware vendors roll out downstream security releases.
4. Control What Runs on Your Network: Using a default deny approach like application allowlisting effectively blocks unauthorized scripts and zero-day ransomware strains, even if a compromised web application attempts to silently drop them onto a corporate device.

While coordinated industry efforts prevented PHP2Shell from causing catastrophic gridlock across the internet, the tail of this vulnerability will impact unmonitored systems for months. Business resilience depends on taking prompt inventory of your web assets, holding vendors accountable, and insulating your corporate network with strict endpoint controls.

Myrtle Beach, SC – Today, American cybersecurity firm, PC Matic, announced the promotion of Kayla Elliott, previously Vice President of Marketing, to Chief Operating Officer (COO).

In her new role, Elliott will continue to oversee PC Matic’s marketing strategy and while also leading all software initiatives, aligning product development with the company’s commercial go-to-market execution. Bringing these functions together under one operational leader ensures that PC Matic’s platform innovations translate directly into revenue, customer value, and market leadership as the company enters its next phase of growth.

“Kayla brings exceptional leadership, operational rigor, and vision across both technical execution and market expansion,” said Shaler Houser, CEO of PC Matic. “As cyber threats grow in sophistication and scale, the organizations and families who rely on us deserve solutions that evolve just as quickly. Uniting our software and marketing teams under Kayla’s leadership ensures that what we build, and how we bring it to market, advance as one. I have every confidence she will help lead PC Matic into its strongest chapter yet.”

As Vice President of Marketing, Elliott directed the strategic course of PC Matic’s brand, demand generation, and product positioning. Under her leadership, the company expanded its digital reach and brought its broadcast and streaming television advertising together into a single, integrated media strategy, strengthening PC Matic’s national presence across both traditional and connected platforms. With more than a decade of experience in the marketing industry, Elliott pairs deep institutional knowledge of PC Matic with an entrepreneurial perspective gained outside the company, giving her a distinctive understanding of how product development and market strategy fuel one another. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science from Bellevue University and a Master of Business Administration from Wayne State College.

“I am honored to step into this role at such a pivotal moment for PC Matic,” said Elliott. “Our technology was built on a simple conviction: threats should be prevented, not merely detected and responded to. My focus will be on ensuring that every innovation our engineers deliver reaches the homes, businesses, and government agencies that need it most, and that our commitment to security excellence is matched by operational excellence across the organization.”

More information on PC Matic may be found at www.pcmatic.com.

###

Between your bank, email, pharmacy, and streaming services, most of us have dozens of passwords to keep straight. So we find ways to cope, like clicking “Save password” every time our web browser offers, keeping a sticky note on the monitor, or reusing the same password because it’s the only one we can remember.

These habits are completely understandable. They also make it easier than it should be for someone else to get into your accounts.

Convenient Habits Can Leave You Exposed

Saving passwords in your web browser is quick, but some malicious programs are built specifically to collect the passwords browsers store. If one reaches your device, every saved login can go with it. 

Writing passwords down has its own problem. A sticky note on the monitor or a list by the keyboard is easy for anyone in the room to see, whether that’s a visitor or someone glancing in on a video call.

Reusing the same password may be the riskiest habit of all. When a website suffers a data breach, criminals try those same email and password combinations on banks, email accounts, and shopping sites. Just one leaked password can open several doors.

The good news is that one simple change addresses all three.

Three Simple Steps to Better Password Management

1. Choose a password manager. A password manager is a secure app that keeps all your passwords in one locked vault. You remember the master password, and the vault fills in the rest on your computer and phone. If you’re not sure where to start, this guide from Zapier compares several trusted options, including free ones.
2. Let a password generator create your passwords. Instead of inventing passwords yourself, use a password generator to create long, random ones that are nearly impossible to guess. Save each one straight into your password manager so you never have to memorize it.
3. Retire the old habits. Start by updating your most important accounts, such as email, banking, and any site that has your credit card on file. Then turn off password saving in your browser and shred any written lists. If you want a paper backup of your master password, keep it in a locked drawer or safe instead of on your desk.

A Free Password Generator From PC Matic

You can start creating stronger passwords today with PC Matic’s free download that includes a built-in password generator, along with a free malware scan and a VPN for safer browsing on public WiFi. If you already have a paid PC Matic subscription, the password generator is included there, too.

Take Back Control of Your Logins

Good password management comes down to two helpful tools and one password to remember. With a password manager keeping your logins safe and a password generator making each one strong, your accounts become much harder to break into. You’ll spend less time hunting for sticky notes and more time enjoying the peace of mind that comes from one smart change.

Shopping online saves a trip to crowded stores, and for many of us it’s the easiest way to send gifts to family across the country. Scammers know that, too. 

A holiday shopping report from Scamwise, a free scam-checking service, looked at more than 250,000 shopping websites people flagged as suspicious this year. Over 100,000 of them were judged to be scams.

What’s changed is how convincing these fake stores have become. Many now look like complete retail websites, with hundreds of items, size charts, and return policies. Some even borrow the names of brands you already know.

How Holiday Shopping Scams Work

At PC Matic, we believe the best protection starts with knowing what to look for. The report points to a few patterns that make these fake stores easy to fall for.

Fake stores usually find you, not the other way around. More than 20% of fake sites were traced to an ad on a search engine or a social media site like Facebook. These ads are meant to catch your eye as you’re scrolling, and one click lands you on a store you’ve never heard of. 

The prices are often the giveaway. About 80% of scam stores use unrealistic discounts, including one that listed an electric dirt bike for $49.99 when the real one sells for about $2,600. These stores also come and go quickly. Roughly 500 new ones are reported every day, and 7 in 10 disappear within 90 days, so a store that looks fine today may not exist next month.

Fake holiday stores reported to Scamwise grew fivefold from August to October, so expect to see more of them as the season goes on. The good news is that a few simple habits make them much easier to spot.

Check Before You Check Out

1. Find the store yourself. If an ad catches your eye, skip the click. Open your web browser and search for the store by name, or shop with a retailer you already know and trust.
2. Check the store and the price. Search the store’s name along with the word “reviews” or “scam.” If a deal seems too good, compare the price at a store you know. A brand-new website with no reviews is a good reason to pause.
3. Get a free second opinion. If something still feels off, use Scamwise, a free tool that checks suspicious websites, texts, emails, and phone calls. Paste in the web address or message, and you’ll get a clear answer with advice on what to do next. No account is needed.

When you’re ready to buy, pay with a credit card. It gives you more protection if an order never arrives.

Extra Protection if Your Information Is Exposed

Even careful shoppers can land on a fake site. If you ever enter your card or personal details on a store that turns out to be a scam, acting quickly makes all the difference.

PC Matic Identity Protection keeps an eye on your credit and banking activity in the background and alerts you right away if something suspicious appears. If a problem does come up, our restoration specialists are ready to help you fix it.

If you’ve ever backed up family photos from your phone, shared a document through an emailed link, or saved tax records to an online folder, you’ve used cloud storage. It’s convenient because your files are available from any device, and a computer crash won’t take them with it.

Cloud storage also means your personal files live on someone else’s computer, in a data center you’ll never see. Most of the time, that works just fine. But when something goes wrong, files you thought were private can end up in the wrong hands.

How Files in the Cloud Get Exposed

At PC Matic, we believe good protection starts with understanding what you’re protecting against. 

• A stolen or guessed password. Anyone who gets your login can open everything in your account. In one 2024 case, criminals got into about 165 business accounts at a single cloud provider using only stolen passwords because those accounts had no second layer of sign-in protection.
• Files that are forgotten. Documents uploaded years ago often stay in the cloud long after you’ve stopped needing them. If your account is ever accessed, those files go with it.
• A data breach. When you store your information in the cloud, you are trusting that storage provider to keep it secure. If they have a security breach, your information could be exposed. 

Because cloud services hold files for millions of people, criminals consider them worth the effort. The good news is that a few simple habits close most of these gaps.

Three Simple Steps to Keep Your Files Safe

There is a time and a place for cloud storage, but you need to do it safely. Here’s where to start. Delete what you no longer need, enable multi-factor authentication, and find an alternative when it’s appropriate. 

Remove What You Don’t Need

Sign in to your cloud account and look through your folders. If you find sensitive items you no longer need, like old tax returns, a scanned driver’s license, or medical records, save them to your computer and delete them from the cloud. 

Enable Multi-Factor Authentication

Add a second lock to your account. Use a strong password you don’t use anywhere else, and turn on multi-factor authentication. When someone signs in from a new device, the service sends an alert requesting additional verification, so a stolen password alone isn’t enough to get in.

Want to go a step further? Our guide on what happens to your data when you store it in the cloud walks through the privacy settings worth changing.

Utilizing Peer-to-Peer (P2P) File Sharing

P2P file sharing is an effective way to send files directly from one person to another, without compromising speed or control. You send the file directly to whoever you want without a copy being stored on a server. P2P file sharing offers better security and privacy than standard cloud storage, with the same speed. 

Protecting the Computer Your Files Come From

Many stolen passwords don’t come from the cloud at all. In that same 2024 case, the passwords were collected by malicious software running on people’s own computers. That’s why protecting your devices matters as much as protecting your accounts.

PC Matic takes a proactive approach. Our allowlisting technology only lets known, trusted programs run on your computer. If an unknown program tries to start, including one built to steal passwords, PC Matic stops it before it can cause harm.