Collaboration Aims to Help Online Content Creators Defend Against Account Takeovers, Spear Phishing Attempts, Malware, and Other Major Cyber Threats

Bitdefender, a global cybersecurity leader, today announced a strategic partnership with the Creators Guild of America to provide digital security solutions tailored for online content creators. The partnership aims to raise awareness of the critical need for creators to protect their digital identities, content, and personal information from increasingly sophisticated and costly cyber threats.

Attacks on content creators and online influencers have surged alongside the proliferation of deepfake technologies, posing a significant threat to their livelihoods and to their followers’ as well. A recent study by Bitdefender Labs detected over 9,000 malicious livestreams on YouTube alone, with cybercriminals rebranding compromised channels to appear legitimate. Compromised accounts include established influencers with millions of followers and billions of views.

“Cybercriminals target content creators to exploit the vast networks of fans, followers, and sponsors they’ve worked hard to build,” said Ciprian Istrate, senior vice president of operations, Consumer Solutions Group at Bitdefender. “Once inside a creator’s network, they can inflict significant damage—rapidly moving across platforms, launching malicious livestreams, and spreading fraudulent links to maximize impact. We’re proud to partner with the Creators Guild of America to raise awareness and help defend against this growing threat.”

The two organizations plan to create joint awareness campaigns, webinars, research and other content to educate content creators about the importance of securing their online channels and steps they can take to better protect themselves.

Bitdefender recently launched the industry’s first complete security solution designed to protect digital content producers, online creative professionals, and social media influencers. Bitdefender Security for Creators is a comprehensive cybersecurity suite that continuously monitors YouTube creators’ devices and networks for anomalous behavior, phishing emails, malicious URLs, files, and malware—delivering real-time alerts to help stop threats before damage occurs.

“Creators need protection. Most creators are first-time entrepreneurs, working in a field that's new and unregulated. That makes them (and their channels) unusually vulnerable to attack and exploitation. Building an audience and a brand from scratch is incredibly difficult, but getting hacked and losing everything you've worked for is far too easy,” stated Daniel Abas, founder and president, Creators Guild of America. “Companies like Bitdefender are making real progress against the growing security threats to creators and their channels, and the CGA is proud to support their work. Creators need and deserve the same level of security enjoyed by brick-and-mortar businesses, and we're encouraged to see Bitdefender rising to meet that challenge.”

About Creators Guild of America

The Creators Guild of America (CGA) is the non-profit 501(c)6 professional service organization established to protect and promote the rights and interests of digital content creators. Launched in 2023, the CGA offers a variety of benefits to creators, including its accreditation service, its monthly Conversation series covering essential topics in the creator economy, networking and information-sharing opportunities, and advocacy within the media industry and in time, at the state and federal level. Most recently, the CGA released its CGA contract rider, a document that its members and associates are authorized to append to their contracts with brands and employers, securing fair payment terms, content ownership, access to analytics and other creative rights. The CGA maintains an aggressive agenda for 2025, including the launch of its Created by series, accreditation technology, new board seats, and brand expansion of the Shield program. The CGA is led by its admin team, Board of Directors, Chairs and Advisory Council, populated by established professionals drawn from content creators, platforms, service providers and thought leaders from within the creator economy.

About Bitdefender

Bitdefender is a cybersecurity leader delivering best-in-class threat prevention, detection, and response solutions worldwide. Guardian over millions of consumer, enterprise, and government environments, Bitdefender is one of the industry’s most trusted experts for eliminating threats, protecting privacy, digital identity and data, and enabling cyber resilience. With deep investments in research and development, Bitdefender Labs discovers hundreds of new threats each minute and validates billions of threat queries daily. The company has pioneered breakthrough innovations in antimalware, IoT security, behavioral analytics, and artificial intelligence and its technology is licensed by more than 180 of the world’s most recognized technology brands. Founded in 2001, Bitdefender has customers in 170+ countries with offices around the world. For more information, visit https://www.bitdefender.com.

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“Creators need protection. Most creators are first-time entrepreneurs, working in a field that's new and unregulated. That makes them (and their channels) unusually vulnerable to attack and exploitation."