Cyber-Security: How to Prevent ‘Digital Assassination’
05.10.2012, Manufacturing Executive
Digital Assassination was featured in David Brousell's 'Game Changing Technologies' column for Manufacturing Executive. As we always say, anyone -- regardless of field or sector -- can be a victim of Digital Assassination. Stay Savvy
EXCERPT: When manufacturers think about cyber-security, they often, almost reflexively think about areas of the business such as control systems, enterprise applications, and intellectual property in general.
That's good because as more and more things get connected electronically, the risk of a virus, an attack, or a theft rises, too. Reports of such attacks on just about any type of business or organization surface almost daily. Lockheed Martin, the PBS news organization, Exxon, the International Monetary Fund, the Department of Defense -- you name it -- have all come under attack, as I have reported in these columns over the past couple of years.
In fact, the number of attacks is so huge at the federal government level alone that last July the DOD unveiled its Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace plan, which called for a partnership program with the private sector to enable what the DOD calls a "whole of government approach" to cyber-security.
But the growing issue of cyber-security doesn't just have to do with businesses, government, and other organizational entities. It is also very much about you -- your reputation, your identity, and maybe even your life.
This side of cyber-security is made clear and present in a new book called Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand, or Business Against Online Attacks, by Richard Torrenzano and Mark Davis. In particular, it makes clear what's at stake for the individual...
Continue Reading: Cyber-Security: How to Prevent ‘Digital Assassination’
THV Extra: Protection for your online repuation
04.30.2012, Today's TVH
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- Three years ago, a teenage boy, using nothing more than a PC, panicked the stock market by putting out a report about the late Steve Jobs.
Jobs was very much alive in 2009, but the kid said he'd had a heart attack. The stock market overreacted, and Apple stock dropped precipitously before the report was corrected.
Richard Terranzanono tells that story and dozens of others in the book he co-authored, "Digital Assassination."
It's not just the Steve Jobs of the world.
"I think if you're a student or a parent or academician, if you're a CEO or a celebrity, if you are a lawyer or a small business owner," said Terranzano.
These attacks in various forms have their own nomenclature. Google bombs, truth remix, motive laundering and more. All result in a damaged reputation of their intended target.
Josh Carroll is an information security specialist from central Arkansas who told us the unforgiving nature of the internet is especially hard on the unemployed.
"35 percent of employers now search for new employees online, will actually search their name through a search engine," says Carroll.
If they find a negative result, that could cost them a job. These days, everyone has a camera. That complicates this issue even more.
"Not only do you have to watch what you post online, but now you have to be concerned with what you do in the public eye," Carroll said. Once the comments, blogs, claims, stories, posts have hit their target, they don't go away.
Carroll pointed out, "The rule of thumb IT professionals customarily use is once it's stored on line, it's there always."
God may forgive... but Google never forgets.
Author: Beware of digital assassination
04.20.2012, Newsday
Just as there are Seven Deadly Sins, there are Seven Swords of Digital Assassination, as outlined by the author Richard Torrenzano, of Oyster Bay.
These are the Seven Swords: New Media Mayhem, Silent Slashers, Evil Clones, Human Flesh Search Engines, Jihad by Proxy, Truth Remix and Clandestine Combat.
You'd have to get a copy of Torrenzano's new book, "Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand, or Business Against Online Attacks," (St. Martin's Press), to understand them all.
But an audience of about 100 people turned out at LIU Post in Brookville Wednesday afternoon to hear Torrenzano's prime lesson: "In the future, which is now, all of us are going to have our 15 minutes of shame."
By that, he means, it is highly likely we will at some point or another be "digitally assassinated" by, perhaps, a Silent Slasher, who destroys personal reputations. They have been doing so since Colonial times, when Federalist pamphlets depicted Thomas Jefferson as a "swindler" and an "atheist." He denied the accusations.
Or you might be assassinated by an Evil Clone, who Torrenzano characterizes as "an evil caricature of you" who displays bad behavior online, and you get the blame.
Torrenzano, chairman and chief executive of Manhattan-based Torrenzano Group, a strategic communications firm specializing in building and protecting corporate reputations, noted that digital assassination has had some tragic consequences lately, including the suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi, 18, who jumped off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate used a webcam to spy on his sexual encounters with another man.
Defending yourself against attacks will grow harder as technology expands, Torrenzano said. But all is not lost. The best way to protect yourself? "Show up," Torrenzano urged. In other words, be vigilant about your password and watch your website and other sites you use like a hawk.
Veteran communications expert Bert Cunningham of Hicksville, who was in the audience, said the lecture made him realize "that today everybody is a brand and they have to protect that brand as if it could be attacked at any minute."
Torrenzano Talks Digital Assassination on Phoenix's Money Radio 1510
03.19.2012,
Ken Morgan and Julie Dougherty of Money Radio 1510 Phoenix interviewed co-author Richard Torrenzano about Digital Assassination on their show "Business for Breakfast."
Click here to listen to the segment
Charlie Dyer of 94.3 KNews Palms Springs Discusses Digital Assassination with Richard Torrenzno
03.14.2012, 943 KNews
Richard Torrenzano was featured on the 943 KNews show "Conversations with Charlie Dyer" discussing the swords and shields of Digital Assassination.
Famed Author and Digital Assassination Expert Richard Torrenzano To Speak at LIU Post
03.06.2012, Long Island University: CW Post
Brookville, N.Y. -- Richard Torrenzano, author of "Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation Brand or Business Against Online Attacks", will be speaking on Wednesday, April 18 at 12:30 p.m. at LIU Post.
As a leading advisor to Fortune 500 corporations and public figures, Torrenzano takes a look beyond technology to examine what social media realities, history, pop culture and futuristic science tell us about how to deal with digital assassins. Torrenzano predicts what the end of privacy will mean for civilization and provides a course of actions to turn the tables on your would-be assassins.
If you are an academician, parent or child, physician, lawyer, journalist or politician, board director, CEO, celebrity or high profile individual, small business owner or entrepreneur—all of us are at risk of digital assassination.
Richard Torrenzano is chairman and chief executive of The Torrenzano Group, a strategic communications and high-stakes issues management firm specializing in building and protecting corporate reputations, enhancing shareholder value and helping clients grow their businesses.
This lecture is free and open to the public. It will be held in the Patron's Lounge, Tilles Center for the Performing Arts. For more information please call the Office of Community Relations at (516) 299-3500 or email: Jennifer.Fitzpatrick@liu.edu.
Doug McIntyre of KABC 790 Los Angeles Interviewed Torrenzano on McIntyre in the Morning
03.05.2012, Talk Radio KABC 790 Los Angeles
Richard Torrenzano, co-author of Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand, or Business Against Online Attacks, spoke to Doug McIntyre on "McIntyre in the Morning" about what individuals and companies can do to protect their online reputation. Click here to listen to the interview.
Cyber-Attacks Have Dramatic Implications on Public Companies, Torrenzano Tells Corporate Directors
02.28.2012, The Torrenzano Group
New York, NY, Feb. 28, 2012 — “Cyber-attacks destroy corporate reputation and have become a global epidemic with dramatic implications on how boards of directors must view risk and vulnerabilities.”
This is just one of the arresting statements Richard Torrenzano, chief executive officer, The Torrenzano Group, and co-author of Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand, or Business Against Online Attacks delivered to a full house at the Connecticut Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) on Monday night, February 27.
Torrenzano was part of a special program entitled "Digital Attacks on Businesses: Protecting your Brand, Reputation and Critical Assets" that focused on damage done to businesses and organizations online.
The presentation featured James D. Wehr, president and chief executive of The Phoenix Companies, Inc. and Theodore P. Augustinos, partner, Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP and co-chair of the firm's Privacy and Data Protection Group.
Torrenzano’s latest book tackles the timely topic, predicting what the end of privacy will mean for civilization -- and providing a course of actions to turn the tables on would-be assassins.
Concluding his presentation, Torrenzano posed seven questions corporate directors need to ask at their next board meeting about digital reputation and brand equity.
1) Has the board considered the negative reputational and financial effects cyber-attacks can have on the company?
2) Does the company have an integrated Internet strategy that considers the needs of all company stakeholders? Does it include a corporate crisis plan?
3) Is the digital strategy just a marketing or customer service tool…or is it a broader plan for the advancement and protection of corporate and brand reputation?
4) Are key company executives, including legal, human resources, marketing, sales, communications and investor relations -- as well as top management organized -- integrated and trained to respond rapidly to an Internet attack?
5) Do key company executives exercise their strategy by conducting digital war games that develop decision trees for actions and inactions? Is their performance independently evaluated?
6) Has the company periodically considered the 3, 4 or 5 likely attacks -- based on its product or service mix, industry or geography?
7) From a corporate governance view, has the company integrated this issue into its overall Enterprise Risk Management process? Who in the C-Suite owns this strategy?
Seven Swords of Digital Assassination Featured in The Lawyers Weekly
02.20.2012,
Our "Seven Swords of Digital Assassination" were featured in this week's Lawyer Weekly! Even lawyers aren't safe from trolls and hackers. Stay savvy!
02.15.2012,
Barnes & Noble’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York featured Digital Assassination in their window!
Gabriel Wisdom of Business Talk Radio InterviewsAuthor Richard Torrenzano on Protecting Your Reputation Online
02.14.2012, The Gabriel Wisdom Show
Gabriel Wisdom, seasoned investment advisor and a well-known broadcaster, interviewed 'Digital Assassination' co-author Richard Torrenzano on Wednesday evening to discuss the new book and steps businesses and individuals can take to protect themselves, their brand and their business from online attacks.
Digital Assassination Excerpt Featured on Leading Military History, Current Events, and Fiction Website
01.10.2012, Command Posts
HUMAN FLESH SEARCH ENGINE AND CLANDESTINE COMBAT
By: RICHARD TORRENZANO, AND MARK DAVIS
Human Flesh Search Engine
IN THE 2007 WESTERN 3:10 to Yuma, Ben Wade, a character played by Russell Crowe, is being held in a hotel in the town of Contention by marshals waiting for a train to take Wade to trial. One of Wade’s confederates surveys the seedy frontier town and realizes that it is populated by useful lowlifes. So he promises $200 to every man who kills a marshal. The offer instantly transforms the men of Contention from a crowd of ambling, shiftless drunks into an army out to liberate Ben Wade.
The difference between this scene and today’s Internet is that one need not offer $200, just the chance to anonymously harm someone. The Human Flesh Search Engine, a Chinese netizen term that originated on an Internet bulletin board, began by singling out antisocial acts on social media, using crowd-sourcing to locate perpetrators and national shaming to punish them.
The Human Flesh Search Engine draws on the power of social media, activating digital mobs to launch an attack on a target from multiple directions.
* * *
Continue reading the excerpt at CommandPosts.com
Drinks Night with Authors of Digital Assassination
01.05.2012,
Is Google Out to Get You? Everyone’s reputation is at risk on line, say Richard Torrenzano and Mark Davis, two leading advisors to Fortune 500 corporations and public figures and the authors of Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand, or Business Against Online Attacks (St. Martin’s). From false Wikipedia entries to Yelp attacks, obscene fabricated images to Facebook privacy concerns, every CEO and celebrity, entrepreneur, lawyer, journalist and politician is at risk of digital assassination.
On March 19 at Pete’s Tavern, 6-8 PM, Torrenzano and Davis will talk about the evolution of character assassination in the digital age, how your own words can be used against you or your sources, and how to protect yourself against cyber villains.
Richard Torrenzano is chief executive of The Torrenzano Group, a New York strategic communications and high-stakes issues management firm that helps organizations take control of how they are perceived. Mark Davis is a former White House speechwriter and a senior director of the Washington-based White House Writers Group. Two free drinks for members and first-time potential members.
Pete’s Tavern
129 E. 18th Street
2nd floor
New York, NY
RSVP: nyfwa@aol.com
Top Three Digital Assassination Trends for 2012 Based on Top Ten Digital Assassinations, 2011
01.04.2012, Richard Torrenzano and Mark Davis
The authors of the new book Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand or Business Against Online Attacks, St. Martin’s Press --- Richard Torrenzano and Mark Davis --- are spotlighting three major Digital Assassination trends for 2012.
Digital Assassination begins as a willful act by someone who wishes to do harm through the Internet. It unfolds as a deliberate campaign to spread harmful lies the assassin has concocted or as attempt to take a fact grossly out of context or embellish it, making an ordinary shortcoming seem ghastly.
The trends are based on lessons from the top ten digital attacks of 2011, also announced today.
Fox News' Patti Brown Interviews Richard Torrenzano on the New Book Digital Assassination
12.21.2011,
Protecting Your Brand Against Online Attacks - Fox News Video
Kathleen Hays of Bloomberg Radio's "Hays Advantage" Discusses the New Book Digital Assassination with Torrenzano
12.15.2011,
Richard Torrenzano, chairman and chief executive officer of the Torrenzano Group, discusses his new book "Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand, or Business Against Online Attacks." Torrenzano talks to Bloomberg's Kathleen Hays on "The Hays Advantage" on Bloomberg Radio.
Digital Assassination Premiers on Black Friday
11.25.2011,
Beginning today - just in time for Black Friday shopping - Barnes and Noble, Fifth Avenue @ East 46 Street in Manhattan will have the new book Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand or Business Against Online Attacks, co-authored by Richard Torrenzano and Mark Davis in their front window...replacing the Steve Jobs book
Co-Author Torrenzano Appears on Hannity Radio Show This Afternoon
11.25.2011,
Interview Friday @ 3:30 pm – on one of the most listened to radio shows in the country – Sean Hannity on 77WABC – hosted by Mark Simone—about the new book by Richard Torrenzano and Mark Davis—Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand or Business Against Online Attacks.
Torrenzano Appears on Good Day NY
11.22.2011,
'Digital Assassination' Author Richard Torrenzano: MyFoxNY.com
MYFOXNY.COM - Reputations have been ruined on the Internet. Before you become a victim, check out author Richard Torrenzano tips on stopping the dissemination of wrong information.
Torrenzano is the author of the popular new book "Digital Assassination: Protecting your Reputation, Brand or Business Against Online Attacks."
1) Everyone is susceptible to digital assassination
-once its on the web its always on the web, even if you get it to go down in the ratings of search engines
2) Facebook, Twitter and other social media
-Control your own message on these sites.
-You need a presence on these sites but post wisely.
-Parents need to have an understanding of these sites and work with children in using appropriately.
-Anything you post can be used against you in job searches, college applications etc.
3) Know What Is Out There About You And Control Your Message
-Using Google Alerts, Yelp, Message boards etc.
-Link to trade associations you are involved with, sprinkle with key words
-Fill out a Google Profile
-Know when to fight back against things that are factually incorrect, but beware it could create a backlash.
-Try and get information you don't want out there ranked lower so it isn't the first thing that comes up in a search.
4) Sometimes It Is Better To Ignore
-Barbara Streisand effect: Years ago a small website published a photo of her Malibu home. Few people would have seen it on this website. She sued them for millions, and it brought attention to the website and the photo and as a result the photo ended up widely distributed throughout the web.
Co-Authors Torrenzano and Davis Guest Post on Forbes.com's CIO Central
11.16.2011, Forbes.com
Digital Assassins Invade The Corporate Suite
Richard Torrenzano, CEO of The Torrenzano Group, and Mark Davis, of the White House Writers Group, are authors of Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand or Business Against Online Attacks (St. Martin’s Press).
“We’re not talking about killing anyone . . . After all, 150,000 people already die from climate-change related effects every year. That’s only going to go up—maybe way, way up. Will it all go to waste? That would be cruel.”
–“Oil industry” spokesman for Vivoleum, producer of candles made from human flesh (well, not really.)
Google, multinational banks and even Sony Playstation have been engulfed by cyber attacks, leaving executives fully alert for criminals who exploit the Internet’s open environment to mount “smash and grab” attacks on valuable data and intellectual property.
Business leaders are just beginning to grasp, however, the extent to which this same technology also empowers digital assassins to deface and devalue brands and businesses.
Whether from activists, like the quote above from the corporate impersonators the Yes Men (they call it “identity correction”), disgruntled employees, blackmailers, and ‘trolls’ who, like the Joker in the Batman movie The Dark Knight, “just want to watch the world burn,” technology amplifies malice, making slurs instant, global, searchable and eternal.
What can be done to protect business, brands and reputation?
Find out. Read the rest of Digital Assassins Invade The Corporate Suite on Forbes.com
Mark Simone of News Talk Radio 77 WABC New York Interviews Torrenzano
11.12.2011,
WABC Radio Host Mark Simone interviewed Richard Torrenzano, co-author of Digital Assassination on the new book and protecting yourself online.
Click HERE to Listen to the Interview
KUAF 91.3 National Public Radio from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville Interview Torrenzano
11.11.2011, KUAF 91.3 NPR
Author Richard Torrenzano visited KUAF’s Anthony and Susan Hui News Studio to discuss the phenomenon of “digital assassination.” The authors approached the subject as reputation experts.
Click HERE for Audio from the Interview
Could you become the victim of a "silent slasher"? - Jim Blasingame, The Small Business Advocate® Show Interviews Davis
11.10.2011,
Digital assassins silently steal your content without attribution. Mark Davis joins Jim Blasingame to discuss types of digital assassins like “silent slashers” who steal or subvert the online content of others.
Click HERE to Listen to the Interview
About The Small Business Advocate Show
With creator and award-winning host, Jim Blasingame, The Small Business Advocate® Show is the world's only weekday small business radio program.
The show airs nationally on the radio (since 1997) and is simulcast worldwide on the Internet (since 1998) for two hours every weekday from 7-9 am Eastern. Radio affiliates often replay the show in other day-parts, including weekends.
Jim conducts over 1,000 live interviews annually with the top experts and thought-leaders - the Brain Trust - in their fields, plus many regular small business owners and entrepreneurs.
How will the end of privacy impact modern society? - Jim Blasingame, The Small Business Advocate® Show Interviews Davis
11.10.2011,
Is the notion of privacy outdated in modern society? Mark Davis joins Jim Blasingame to discuss the impact of modern technology on personal privacy and business brand control, and how to protect yourself and your business.
Click HERE to Listen to the Interview
About The Small Business Advocate Show
With creator and award-winning host, Jim Blasingame, The Small Business Advocate® Show is the world's only weekday small business radio program.
The show airs nationally on the radio (since 1997) and is simulcast worldwide on the Internet (since 1998) for two hours every weekday from 7-9 am Eastern. Radio affiliates often replay the show in other day-parts, including weekends.
Jim conducts over 1,000 live interviews annually with the top experts and thought-leaders - the Brain Trust - in their fields, plus many regular small business own
Innovate Arkansas Features Digital Assassination in Publisher's Note
11.07.2011, Innovate Arkansas
Have You Endured Your 15 Minutes of Internet Shame?
By Jeff Hankins
11/7/2011
While the explosion of social media has created another multibillion-dollar marketing industry and connected everyone with long-lost friends, it has also turned reputation management upside down.
Take a moment to search for your name or your company's name on Google. You might be surprised what turns up through a seemingly obscure comment on a website you didn't even know existed.
Richard Torrenzano and Mark Davis have written a new book titled "Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand, or Business Against Online Attacks." Torrenzano, a strategic communications guru who has advised some of the largest companies in the world, was in Little Rock recently to talk about the issues we all face as privacy goes by the wayside.
Everyone is going to face "15 minutes of shame," Torrenzano says, and most people and companies aren't equipped to tackle it. Competitors, disgruntled employees and "trolls who like to inflict pain" anonymously visit blogs and post harmful information.
Attacks are nothing new - graffiti was used in ancient Rome when people had scores to settle, and then the walls would be repainted. Today's graffiti on the Internet, however, is permanent, shared widely in an instant through social media and readily accessible in search engine results.
Click HERE to Continue Reading
CBS Affiliate KFSM 5NEWS, Fayetteville, Arkansas Covers Presentation on New Book Digital Assassination at Northwest Regional Council; Business Leaders Discuss importance of Issue to Them
11.04.2011, 5NEWS Fort Smith-Fayetteville
Co-Author Torrenzano Helps Northwest Arkansas Businesses Fight Online Attacks
11.04.2011, 5NEWS Fort Smith-Fayetteville
Business Leaders Learn How to Protect Their Business from Online Attacks
11.04.2011, Winthrop Rockefeller Institute
PETIT JEAN MOUNTAIN, Ark. (November 4, 2011) — “In the future, which is now, everyone will have 15 minutes of shame,” says Richard Torrenzano, co-author of the book “Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand or Business Against Online Attacks.” From the ancient Romans who painted vicious political comments on the walls of buildings to Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton taunting and teasing each other about personal secrets through early media, attacking individuals with words can be found throughout history. Unlike these historical examples, attacks today become a permanent part of a business’s reputation with internet archive sites like The Way Back Machine.
Members of the Northwest Arkansas Council, the Little Rock Regional Chamber, and various business leaders had the opportunity to listen to Torrenzano’s presentation about his book on October 31 and November 1 at the Holiday Inn in Springfield, the Little Rock Regional Chamber, and at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute.
Click here to continue reading Business Leaders Learn How to Protect Their Business from Online Attacks
Is Your Name and Brand Protected from “Digital Assassination”
11.02.2011, Flex 360
Yesterday, Arkansas Business and FLEX360 had the pleasure of attending a lunch presentation at the Little Rock Chamber (co-hosted by the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute) by Richard Torrenzano, author of the book “Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand or Business Against Online Attack."
Torrenzano warned that everyone (individuals & small businesses as well as large corporations) will eventually have their brand and/or reputation attacked by online “assassins”. His view is that it’s not a matter of if, but when.
Torrenzano described seven distinct ways you can be attacked online; from “Silent Slashes" (online damage to your business and reputation by unfelt cuts) to “Evil Clones” (confessions to something terrible using your name and image) and everything scary in between. By the end of the presentation I think everyone in the room was Googling their own name and brand- just to be sure it hadn’t already happened!
While Torrenzano gave a few tips on how to monitor your online reputation with tracking tools (Google Alerts is a must in my opinion), he insisted there’s really no way to prevent this stuff from happening. He stressed the importance of having strong SEO (search engine optimization) in place to counter-balance the negative. If (or when) your name or brand is attacked and actually ranks in the search engines, SEO can help ensure the other 9 listings are controlled by you. And we couldn’t agree more. SEO is not only useful to help people find you, but also to protect you. Remember, "sticks and stones may break your bones, but in the digital age names will ruin your reputation, cost you jobs and contracts, and destroy your career."
Read more or order the book at its website, DigitalAssassinationBook.com.
Torrenzano and Davis Invited to National Press Club Book Fair
11.02.2011,
As members of the prestigious National Press Club, Richard Torrenzano and Mark Davis were invited to the Club's 2011 Book Fair & Author's Night from 5:30 - 8:30pm on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
UN's South-South News Interviews Torrenzano on Digital Assassination
10.31.2011, South-South News
Co-Author Richard Torrenzano discusses his latest book "Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand or Business Against Online Attacks" on the United Nations South-South News program
Click Image to Play Full Interview
Brian Pittman of CommPro.biz Interviews Torrenzano and Davis on Digital Assassination
10.28.2011, CommPro.biz
Digital Assassination: New Book Reveals Seven Ways You Can Be Harmed at the Speed of a Twitter Post
Brian Pittman’s spotlight on: Richard Torrenzano, Mark Davis, Co-Authors, “Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand or Business Against Online Attacks“
“If you’re a CEO or celebrity, entrepreneur, politician, journalist or even parent—there is a risk today of digital assassination,” says Richard Torrenzano, who helms NYC’s The Torrenzano Group and has managed some of the most visible global corporate crises of our lifetime.
“We’ve seen online attacks ruin the lives of teenagers and end in suicides, and we’ve seen them hurt businesses and brands—like what happened to Sony PlayStation, or even to banks or celebrities that have been hacked,” he says. “Regardless of who you are, if you have a name, and you have a brand to protect, this is one of the most important issues facing you today.”
“According to the black and white hats we interviewed about this, the danger will only increase 50-100 fold in the next two to five year—thanks in large part to the open architecture of the Internet,” adds co-author of the new St. Martin’s Press title and former White House speechwriter Mark Davis, who is also the senior director of DC-based White House Writers Group.
Read the full interview HERE
Digital Assassination Featured on O'Dwyer PR Blog
10.26.2011,
New Book Warns of Rep Attacks on Web
New York counselor Richard Torrenzano and former White House speechwriter Mark Davis have authored "Digital Assassination," warning people and companies about attacks on websites, some of them un-moderated, that can destroy reputations and businesses.
The book was published today by St. Martin’s Press at $25.99 and is available in hardcopy at Amazon and also via Kindle.
Companies and people are being hit with false Wikipedia entries, false and malicious entries on un-moderated websites such as yelp.com, obscene fake images, and misuse of material on Facebook, say the authors.
The web has effectively brought an end to privacy and individuals and companies must start fighting back, they advise.
Objects of “stealth” attacks may not even know what’s being said about them in various web venues, they point out in a chapter headed, “Silent Slashers.”
Gossip-oriented websites have pushed aside traditional media and do anything but “balanced reporting,” they say.
To continue reading "New Book Warns of Rep Attacks on Web" click HERE
Digital Assassination Released
10.25.2011,
New Book: 'Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand or Business Against Online Attacks' Released Today
NEW YORK
"In the future, which is now, everyone will have 15 minutes of shame."
This is one of many arresting statements from Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand or Business Against Online Attacks released today by St. Martin's Press.
Co-authors Richard Torrenzano and Mark Davis, leading advisors to Fortune 500 companies and public figures, predict what the end of privacy will mean for civilization—and provide a course of action to turn the tables on your would-be assassins.
Click here for the full news release
Digital Assassination Authors Invited to Headline CED Policy Luncheon
10.12.2011, Committee for Economic Development
A discussion with communications experts and authors Richard Torrenzano and Mark Davis - Protecting yourself against the dark side of the digital age
Monday, October 17, 2011
12:00 PM - 1:45 pm
Committee for Economic Development
2000 L Street NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
Digital Assassination: How to defend yourself against online smear
10.10.2011, FirstPost
Digital Assassination co-author, Mark Davis speaks with "First Post" columnist Uttara Choudhury about the upcoming book and threat of digital attacks.
You claim that “In the future, which is now, everyone will have 15 minutes of shame.” Can you expand on your statement?
Richard Torrenzano, my co-author and I believe we are already in a full-blown digital crisis in which anyone can be subjected to a reputational attack that is global, instant and forever.
Some examples: A political candidate has a campaign website put up that looks real, only it is seeded with strange and inflammatory statements that the candidate would never make. The owner of a hotel is unfairly accused on a review site of hosting prostitutes. A teen-age girl commits suicide after being taunted by a middle-aged woman digitally posing as a teen-age boy. A woman who has appeared on popular television shows is portrayed in a lascivious way on an online dating site, complete with her home address and phone number.
The ‘shame,’ of course, really belongs to the digital assassins who perpetrate these attacks. At the rate things are going, this will likely happen to everyone at one time or another. Hence, our 15 minutes.
Click here for the full article:Digital Assassination: How to defend yourself against online smear
Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, Chamber Partner to Host Richard Torrenzano, Author of ‘Digital Assassination’
09.29.2011,
PETIT JEAN MOUNTAIN, Ark. (September 29, 2011) — The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute in collaboration with the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce is pleased to co-host Richard Torrenzano, co-author of the upcoming book “Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand or Business Against Online Attacks.” This presentation and luncheon will be held on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 at noon in the Verizon Wireless Conference Room and Delta Timber Atrium of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The Daily Reader Highlights Digital Assassination in Piece on Business Blunder
09.21.2011,
...There is a lesson here for all of us. Whether you are a company or an individual, managing your reputation online is becoming a full-time occupation. Authors Richard Torrenzano and Mark Davis know this. They have written a modern day manual for public relations with Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand, or Business Against Online Attacks, providing readers with case studies and advice for those of that feel they are being unfairly maligned online.
Read More
Bloomberg London Interviews Digital Assassination Author Richard Torrenzano on News Corp. Phone Hacking Fallout
07.17.2011, Bloomberg
July 18 - Richard Torrenzano, chief executive officer of the Torrenzano Group, discusses the possibility of a congressional probe into the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal. He speaks to Andrea Catherwood on Bloomberg Television's "Last Word."
Click Here for Streaming Video
Bloomberg's Taking Stock Host Pimm Fox Interviews Digital Assassination Author Richard Torrenzano on News Corp Hack Attacks
07.14.2011,
July 15 - Richard Torrenzano, chief executive officer of the Torrenzano Group, talks about the resignation of Les Hinton as CEO of News Corp.'s Dow Jones & Co. amid accusations of phone hacking by some of the company's journalists. Torrenzano speaks with Pimm Fox on Bloomberg Television's Taking Stock
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