Understanding Cybersecurity Risks for Online Artists: Hacks, VPNs, and More

The online world is a vast realm with endless personal and professional growth possibilities. For artists, having a presence online can lead to valuable networks, more work, and increased reach. With just a few clicks, artists can build their brand and carve out a space with arguably fewer resources than if they were to market and sell their work via traditional physical methods. In 2022, Barron’s even estimated that nearly 16% of all art sales are transacted online. 

Unfortunately, the possibilities of the online world are not lost on cybercriminals. In time, with the steady cross-industry digitalization worldwide, hackers have become increasingly aggressive as their pool of “prey” grows. As of 2023, an FBI report revealed that cybercrime had risen by around 74%. In line with this, Cybersecurity Ventures estimates that cyber attacks will cost the US economy $10.5 trillion by 2025. Most attacks are targeted toward small businesses, largely due to their lack of sophisticated cybersecurity. This puts online artists who often run solo in hackers’ crosshairs. To protect yourself from falling victim to these malicious online entities, here are the ways you may be putting yourself at risk and what to do about it.

Jump ahead:

Common cybersecurity risks for online artists

• Weak or inexistent passwords

• Using low-security channels

• Falling for bogus leads

Best ways to protect yourself online

• Adopt a secure VPN

• Use a password manager

• Tighten your inner circle

Common cybersecurity risks for online artists

Weak or inexistent passwords

Today, practically everything to do with technology or digital devices requires a password, from your smartphone to social media accounts. However, most people have gotten so accustomed to passwords that they no longer take them seriously. Much like how the majority tick off the box that says they’ve read the terms and conditions even if they haven’t, plenty of tech users today don’t give a second thought about password strength or even adding a password. This essentially creates a chink in your online armor. 

According to an Artsy interview with an expert from Canvas Art Law, many in the art sector send sensitive documents without password protection. This includes files like invoices, which may include personal information that can easily be exploited. All a hacker has to do is intercept these, and they can alter the transaction. Usually, they do this by changing bank details to their own. Recently, the Rijksmuseum Twenthe in Enschede Museum experienced something similar, with hackers diverting payments meant to go to a dealer for an 1824 John Constable painting. 

Using low-security channels

Nowadays, most online artists conduct various aspects of their business on free and public platforms. Think social media sites and free chat applications. Aside from having the benefit of being more cost-effective, these platforms often also have a large native user base, which means it’s easy for artists to connect and communicate. The downside to these is that they’re also hunting grounds for cybercriminals. Sadly, these sites aren’t known for being especially responsible should a hack happen to a user. 

This is what happened to painter and podcaster Sergio Gomez. A long-time figure in the art community, Gomez had built a decent following on Instagram, where he regularly shared his artwork. Overnight, Gomez discovered that his account was empty and hackers were holding it for ransom. According to the artist, Instagram was of little help. Similarly, some artists have found their personal information taken by hackers on chat apps like WhatsApp. As explained above, this can lead to cybercriminals taking your personal info for identity theft, or they can reroute any payments made to you. 

Falling for bogus leads

While part of being a successful entrepreneur is being open and welcoming, many hackers take advantage of this by sending bogus leads that are actually phishing schemes. This is usually committed via emails or inquiries sent to artists. The contents of these emails can vary, but they’re usually written so that the recipient thinks they’re speaking to a potential buyer, purveyor, or collaborator. To really sell it, some hackers even use artificial intelligence (AI) to create deep fakes that they pass off as their credible profiles.  In 2022, digital artist Mike "Beeple" Winkelmann and his Twitter followers lost hundreds of thousands of dollars after hackers rolled out a phishing scam through the NFT creator’s account. As it is, AI art is already controversial among artists. After all, this tech, while innovative, can easily use creative intellectual property for unethical practices, raising questions about copyright and artistic ownership.

Best ways to protect yourself online

Adopt a secure VPN

Before hackers strike, they often monitor potential targets, waiting for any vulnerabilities. You’ll want to use a virtual private network (VPN) to protect your online movements from dangerous eyes. With these, your internet traffic is encrypted. On average, Kaspersky notes that it would take hackers millions of years to decrypt this without a key. Additionally, VPNs can hide your whereabouts, further protecting your personal information. 

That said, some internet service providers (ISPs) and services can still recognize when a user has a VPN activated. In these cases, you may still find your online data and traffic has been collected by parties that may be hacked. To get around this, you can invest in a stealth VPN. Also called obfuscation protocols, these take the extra step to turn your encrypted traffic into what “looks” like regular traffic. As explained by NordVPN, this increases online privacy and security since it camouflages your data. Should somebody monitor your online activities, this kind of VPN can help your data look less conspicuous. Because these also create a unique private digital number (DN) for every server, reducing the chance of data leaks. 

Use a password manager

Strong passwords are must-haves online, and you shouldn’t reuse them. Given that most artists usually have multiple accounts across various platforms, it can be easy to forget passwords or get confused by them. This causes many to turn to weak passwords that can easily be circumvented. 

To remedy this, a password manager can help you organize and strengthen your online presence. With this tech, you’re given complex passwords for every site you’re on, and the software remembers each one for you. Password managers themselves also have redundant safety protocols to safeguard each randomized password. These protocols include using a password vault and multi-factor authentication. If you’re uncomfortable with this kind of technology, they come in various types to suit your needs. For instance, if you travel a lot, a Cloud-based password manager like LastPass may align more with your lifestyle since you can access it on any Internet-connected device. 

Tighten your inner circle

Lastly, you’ll want to be more discerning about who has access to your gadgets and online accounts. Stanford Research reveals that up to 88% of data breaches are due to human errors. This can include accidentally clicking a hacker’s link or sending sensitive information through unsecured networks. As such, try to limit online access to those who are the most essential to your operations. Assuming you’re not a single business owner, this can include your community manager, project manager, and finance associate since these roles are usually the only ones needing access to your online transactions. Even then, you may want to provide access based on their specific role. This way, nobody outside of yourself has access to all your data. Additionally, everyone should be taught to observe appropriate online hygiene to reduce cybercrime risk.