Founder, DFend + Strategic Leader + Digital Identity + Emerging Tech + …who had his life stolen as a digital identity theft target.
Chris Smith—like millions of others—met someone new and was in the process of planning the next steps of his life.
What he didn’t plan for was becoming a target of a sophisticated international identity theft ring.
Privacy Pandemic is both the story of Chris’s fight against the fraudsters who tried to steal his life & a guide for readers on how to stay safe in a dangerous digital world.
About Chris
An established leader with 20+ years of experience in digital identity, digital media, and SaaS, Chris knows firsthand what it is like to experience significant digital identity theft.
A tech-savvy strategist in digital media and emerging technologies, Christopher A. Smith has garnered an unparalleled reputation for launching, redeveloping, and building highly successful companies with records that consistently reflect double-digit growth. His expertise includes creating strategic global partnerships, defining go-to-market strategies, galvanizing sales, spurring product development, and leading global teams within both start-ups and global organizations.
While an executive at a cryptocurrency firm, Chris became the target of significant and life-altering digital identity theft. Fueled by this experience, Chris founded DFend—a next-generation security service for developers, enterprise security professionals, and consumers to protect their digital assets and identities. Chris’s passion and purpose is to make the digital world a safer place, reducing others’ risk of becoming victims of similar crimes. This is his driving force when defending companies and consumers with disruptive technology. Chris was born and raised in San Mateo, California, and resides in New York City. Privacy Pandemic is his first book and documents his personal experience with digital fraud.
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About Privacy Pandemic
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After mounting red flags caused him to end a relationship, Chris soon found his digital life under attack: his accounts were compromised, emails and texts were intercepted, Social Security number was stolen—they even hacked his mother’s home WiFi router.
Chris would soon learn cybercriminals had targeted him in one of the most extensive, twisted cases of digital identity theft known by experts. But unfortunately, he also discovered that he’s not alone but rather is another casualty in an Information Age plague that threatens the finances and digital safety of individuals, companies, and governments worldwide.
Privacy Pandemic is the story of Chris’s fight against the fraudsters who tried to steal his life—and who continue to attack him to this day.
Once he recovered from the shock and betrayal, he vowed to bring his attackers to justice and assembled a team of experts in the US and abroad—attorneys, digital forensics specialists, and law enforcement agents—and began relentlessly building an active case.
But this is about more than Chris’s story. It’s about everyone’s story.
As Chris discovered when he tried to hold his attackers accountable, keeping vital personal information safe in the digital age is incredibly difficult.
Privacy Pandemic is not only a firsthand account of what happens when one is targeted by sophisticated cybercriminals—it’s also a guide for readers on how to stay safe in a dangerous digital world. Chris details the companies, software, tools, and practices that give us all the best chance of preventing security breaches and their disastrous consequences.
He shares how he’s turned personal loss and hardship into professional triumph, ensuring that the power to protect personal information as much as possible is where it belongs: in the hands of consumers.
About DFend
DFend’s mission is to provide proactive tools for organizations and their users to identify cyber threats in real time. Our SaaS platform provides organizations, and consumers with early-warning signals, automated recommendations, and security policies to stop cybercrime and identity theft. We believe digital security should be easy to use, implement, and deploy at scale for all users.
Blog
In our digital age, securing our accounts with strong passwords is fundamental. But with so many accounts to manage, complex passwords can be a nightmare to remember. Enter the hero – the passphrase!
So, what is the difference between a password and a passphrase, and why should you care?
The Password ... read more
The internet is a double-edged sword. It connects us, informs us, and entertains us, but it also exposes a treasure trove of personal information – our digital identity. This identity, if compromised, can lead to a world of trouble, from financial loss to damaged reputation. Fear not, fellow netizen! Here’s ... read more
We live in a world where our digital lives are intertwined with our physical ones. From bank accounts to social media, protecting our digital identities is crucial. But let’s face it, remembering complex passwords for everything can be a challenge.
Enter multi-factor authentication (MFA), your new best friend in the fight ... read more
In today’s digital world, most of our activities are conducted online, such as banking, shopping, and socializing, which is very convenient. However, this convenience is not without risks, as it exposes us to the danger of digital identity theft.
Digital identity theft occurs when someone steals your personal information, including your ... read more
I’m excited to announce that Privacy Pandemic has been chosen as a finalist for the 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Award by Foreword Reviews, in the Science & Technology (Adult Non-Fiction) category.
I want to extend my sincere gratitude to Amplify Publishing Group, the Identity Theft Resource Center – Nonprofit, The ... read more
Media
Chris is available for interviews, features, and speaking engagements. Contact us below.
In an interview, Chris can speak on the following topics and more.
- Protecting consumers against data breaches
- The current state of crypto, digital identity, and Web3
- The future of AI & cybersecurity
- His personal experience with identity theft
Contact
Contacts:
Press: Madison Kendrick at 42West 
Management: Stevie Boothe at The Boothe Group
Publisher: Amplify Publishing Group