A white and blue billboard, a stage and two chairs in the middle of Times Square to connect passersby with three ethical hackers. That’s all NordVPN needed to dispel New Yorkers’ misconceptions about online safety, starting with one simple question: Are you half naked online?
A handful of minutes were enough for Marijus Briedis (CTO of NordVPN), Adrianus Warmenhoven (Cybersecurity Advisor at NordVPN) and Liron Segev (the popular YouTuber known as TheTechieGuy) to reveal to the participants how they are really exposed online.
The “Talk to a Hacker” trick is part of a larger campaign for NordVPN. The company is on a mission to help Americans understand that even the best antivirus solutions represent only half of the online protection everyone needs to stay safe on the Internet.
It comes after some disappointing responses from Americans to NordVPN’s latest survey.
A staggering 73% of Americans still believe their antivirus software protects them from identity theft, ensures online privacy, and protects their data on public Wi-Fi networks. However, the job of an antivirus is more to defend your device from malware and viruses.
“This widespread misunderstanding about online protection is exactly why we created this campaign,” said Toma Sabaliauskiene, CMO of NordVPN.
“Americans walk around with a dangerous, false sense of security. It’s like installing a sophisticated alarm system on your front door and leaving all the windows open. Our experience in Times Square demonstrated this vulnerability live and up close.”
Americans’ interests, addresses and even passwords exposed
A flock of curious New Yorkers gathered around the NordVPN sign on Thursday, October 16. However, those who actually participated in the initiative left with a new certainty: they are not as private and safe online as they think.
The three hackers generated detailed reports on participants that revealed how their most sensitive data was exposed online. These include their passwords, phone numbers, home addresses, Social Security numbers, and sometimes even the make and model of the car they drive.
The amount of detail available was so personal that hackers were even able to identify people’s interests and most used usernames, as well as name their favorite bands.
“We saw genuine shock on people’s faces as they realized how exposed they really were. Many were visibly stunned to learn that their current software had been giving them a false sense of security all along,” Sabaliauskiene said.
That moment of surprise and realization was exactly what NordVPN was going for with this campaign.
A virtual private network (VPN) is not a magic wand either. However, it is a crucial tool that will help you minimize your digital footprint while making it difficult to track you online from one site to another. It does this by encrypting all your Internet connections and spoofing your real IP address.
A secure VPN is especially important to protect yourself when connecting to public Wi-Fi, something nearly 40% of Americans said they did, but more than half of them did without protection.
NordVPN even includes its Threat Protection Pro tool to protect users from online scams, malware, and annoying ads. However, we recommend combining it with suitable antivirus software.
Online threats are becoming more multifaceted, and so is your security. And remember: “While people rightly worry about Social Security numbers and credit card details, a contact data breach is often the first critical domino to fall,” warns NordVPN.
If you missed your chance to have your digital personality scanned by NordVPN experts, don’t worry. Everyone, inside and outside the US, can do so by heading to nordvpn.com/half to access the company’s dedicated campaign page.
There, you’ll have the opportunity to use NordVPN’s Dark Web Monitor tool for free to check if your data is already exposed on the dark web, while learning how to strengthen your online protection.
