Cybersecurity expert discusses AI-powered scams at TEDxSarasota
Cybersecurity expert discusses AI-powered scams at TEDxSarasota
https://www.mysuncoast.com/2026/03/03/cybersecurity-expert-discusses-ai-powered-scams-tedxsarasota/
Publish Date: 2026-03-03 10:27:00
Source Domain: www.mysuncoast.com
SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – A cybersecurity expert with more than 20 years of experience is bringing a warning about AI-powered scams and the unregulated data broker industry to a Sarasota audience later this month.
Catherine “Cat” Karow, founder of ZoraSafe and a former cybersecurity professional at Apple and the White House, is scheduled to speak at TEDxSarasota on March 16th at Florida Studio Theatre.
Personal data sold with ‘zero transparency’
Karow said Americans’ personal data — including names, addresses, phone numbers, financial habits, health conditions and daily routines — is legally harvested and sold by a multi-billion dollar data broker industry with virtually no regulation or transparency.
She said that data is giving cybercriminals the tools to craft highly targeted attacks. Unlike generic phishing emails of the past, scammers now use purchased personal data to build convincing, personalized fraud schemes — particularly against seniors and families.
$28.3 billion lost annually
Seniors lose an estimated $28.3 billion annually to fraud, Karow said, and that number is accelerating as AI makes scams cheaper, faster and harder to detect.
Karow said her path into this work became personal when scammers targeted her own mother — a former Capitol Hill staffer who helped write banking regulations.
“This problem doesn’t discriminate by intelligence or background — anyone can be a target,” Karow tells us.
‘Data labels’ proposal
At TEDxSarasota, Karow plans to call for “data labels” — a transparency standard modeled after nutrition labels — that would require companies to disclose who is collecting consumer data, who is buying it and how it is being used.
She also outlined steps people can take now to reduce their exposure.
- Freeze your credit with all three bureaus
- Use a password manager
- Turn on multi-factor authentication on every account
- Opt out of data broker sites such as Spokeo and WhitePages
- Never give personal information to an…
