META MAYHEM: ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK
Former national security and law enforcement investigators announce Metasafe Alliance, a multidisciplinary partnership group, to help ensure immersion into an embodied internet is safe.
For Immediate Release
September 29, 2022. Washington D.C.
The much anticipated, next generation Web3 with the promise of a fully embodied internet connecting unlimited digital communities is already here. It’s a gold rush, complete with toney real estate already reaching over a billion dollars sold and the world’s largest companies preparing to offer billions of dollars of products and services to a worldwide customer base of avatars eager to transact.
But how safe is the metaverse?
“Private and public companies, their goods and services, along with their most important assets, their employees, will be fair game to the predatory practices of global criminal networks in the virtual world of meta, just as they are in the real world today,” says William Evanina, Senior Partner at Meta Safe Alliance and former Director of the United States National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC).
Evanina and his MSA partners have formed an elite alliance of former senior national security and law enforcement investigators who use proprietary tools, cutting-edge technology and decades of real-world experience from their careers at multiple agencies, including the FBI, CIA, Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security, to protect against the increased vulnerabilities of meta.
“The metaverse will present extraordinary experiences, yet we cannot ignore its extraordinary challenges,” continues Evanina, who also previously served as Chief of the Counterespionage
Group for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). “Rules and regulations will slowly evolve, but there is an immediate need for companies to establish pre-exploit policies and plans and be ready to act when bad actors compromise their digital space. If their real estate in meta is perceived as unsafe for consumers, it will have devastating consequences for that company or brand in the real world.”
“Where there is money and goods - virtual or not - there is always sophisticated elements that will go to great lengths to hijack both,” adds Sarah Schoenfelder, MSA Senior Partner and former senior manager at Deloitte where she led teams focused on forensic accounting and anti-money laundering investigations. “The land grab of coded intellectual property in the virtual world offers a treasure trove ready to be compromised. Multi-million-dollar ransomware attacks, the compromising of data bases and network penetrations along with virtual stalking, harassment and assault may become commonplace. We hope for the metaverse to flourish but we hope anonymity isn’t what powers it. Time and again, anonymity drives a darker side—and companies will need to be prepared.”
Metasafe Alliance has assembled expertise in essential disciplines, including cyber security, encryption, cryptocurrency, financial intelligence, authentication, entity extraction, location telemetry and privacy.
“The MSA team will use the same tactics, techniques and procedures required to investigate and prosecute avatars as we have successfully done in the real world,” adds Patrick Westerhaus, former Special Agent and Senior Manager in the FBI’s Cyber Division, and Vice President at Wells Fargo where he built the Cyber Crime Intelligence Unit. “The metaverse may be new, but it will certainly host the same old crimes.”
About Meta Safe Alliance:
Headquartered in Washington, D.C. Meta Safe Alliance brings together a world-class team of senior law enforcement, cybersecurity experts and government policy professionals and the best, proven companies to protect business and institutions in the metaverse.