NOMINATION HIGHLIGHTS

Optery minimizes human-targeted cyber risk by addressing one of the most exploited yet overlooked attack surfaces in modern cybersecurity: exposed employee personal data.

Threat actors routinely leverage data broker and people-search sites to conduct reconnaissance prior to phishing, smishing, vishing, business email compromise, impersonation, credential compromise, and even physical threats. Traditional ASM platforms focus on domains, IPs, and infrastructure, but do not address the exposed employee data that fuels these attacks. Optery applies attack surface management to this exposed data, helping organizations proactively close a critical security gap and prevent targeted attacks.

Optery leverages patented search technology and sophisticated automation to find and remove exposed personal data across hundreds of data broker sites. On average, Optery finds ~100 exposed profiles per person, significantly more than competing services. The platform executes automated opt-outs at scale, performs monthly rescans and re-removals to counter data repopulation, and provides screenshot-based before-and-after reporting to verify results.

In 2025, Optery expanded its automation capabilities through agentic AI, enabling high-autonomy interpretation of opt-out requirements and adaptation to changing site workflows, while maintaining human oversight for complex cases.

Independent testing has demonstrated Optery’s speed and scale. The WSJ, for instance, saw removal from 100+ sites in two days using Optery. A TechCrunch journalist reported that Optery caught nearly 50 more of his exposed profiles than a leading competitor. Optery was also named the winner in two head-to-head matchups against DeleteMe and Incogni by PCMag.

Optery protects hundreds of businesses across financial services, healthcare, technology, government, media, and biotech, as well as hundreds of thousands of individuals. Customers include national banks, publicly traded companies, Fortune 500 organizations, and digital executive protection firms.

The company has earned PCMag Editors’ Choice for personal data removal four consecutive years (2022–2025), multiple Cybersecurity Excellence Awards across Attack Surface Management, Digital Footprint Management, and Employee Privacy Protection, and major industry recognition from Fast Company, Cyber Defense Magazine, Fortress Cybersecurity Awards, and SiliconANGLE’s TechForward Awards.

Optery’s capabilities translate into measurable security impact: a demonstrably smaller human attack surface and reduced social engineering attack volume across the organization.