Building a creator platform is definitely a huge milestone. Your platform might have a powerful feature set, unique branding, and a loyal user base. And your platform’s growing popularity might make the creators and users vulnerable to security attacks, compromising data and overall revenue.​
In this guide, we explore the top cybersecurity threats, key security measures and how to strengthen your platform’s security foundation.
Table of Contents
The Need For a Secure Creator Platform
Creator communities and social platforms are prime targets of cyberattacks. With the advent of AI, there’s an increase in AI-used ransomware, impersonation, and copyright infringement. ​
High online visibility and engagement make creators soft targets for such attacks. For example, malicious streams often force users to give away personal and confidential information. Deepfakes or account impersonations of popular influencers and creators are used in scams and to damage reputations.
First, identify the top security threats for your platform. For example, if you’re building an OnlyFans-like platform, data leaks, identity theft, and copyright infringement are top security risks. Next, implement platform and creator-level security measures to safeguard content and tackle such security incidents.Â
Core Platform-Level Security Essentials
Secure Hosting
Choosing a trusted and secure hosting platform is one of the first steps to building a creator platform. Your hosting space is where all your platform and user data is stored. Look for providers with high uptime, speed, firewalls, automated backups and malware scanning.
Why Is It Important?: Protects from cyber threats, blocks breaches, builds trust, compliance and secure backups.
User & Identity Authentication
User authentication is the primary line of defense for any platform. With increasing cybercrime, verifying the identities and ages of creators and users is crucial. This prevents unauthorized access or minors from being exposed to adult or age-inappropriate content. Enable secure logins, two-factor authentication (2FA) for user accounts, and role-based access controls. Jumio, Ondato, Veriff and Yoti are trusted third-party age & identity verification tools. Â
Why Is It Important?: Security and fraud prevention, prevent unauthorized access, protect confidential data, and compliance.
Secure Platform Infrastructure
Infrastructure security is essential for running your business smoothly and building a strong foundation. This includes safeguarding your website with firewalls, a strong password policy, an SSL certificate, data encryption, cloud security, etc. Include real-time monitoring for multiple failed login attempts, unsuccessful payments, account sharing, or other suspicious patterns.​
Why Is It Important? Protects back-end data from breaches, builds trust, and tracks suspicious activity
Data Encryption
Encryption mechanisms ensure confidential data is protected from third-party access or data integrity. Implement SSL/TLS protocols to protect data at rest and in transit, especially applicable for livestreams and private chats. Use strong encryption algorithms like AES for user credentials, payment details and private data.
Why Is It Important? For data privacy, regulatory compliance, data integrity, and prevent third-party intrusions
Secure Payment Processing
Secure payment processing is crucial for creator platforms. Integrate with trusted payment gateways like Stripe, CCBill, PayPal, and Authorize.net that comply with PCI-DSS standards. Additionally, platforms need to build secure subscription flows, strong fraud and chargeback mechanisms and avoid storing raw data.
Why Is It Important?: Prevent fraud, reduce payment failures, smooth checkout and reduce churn
Secure API and Integration
Third-party API integrations with payment gateways, livestreaming software, email notifications, and analytics are crucial for creator platforms. However, API endpoints are vulnerable spots for cyber attacks. Hence, use OAuth 2.0 or JWT to verify the user’s identity while requesting access.
Why Is It Important? Protects sensitive data, builds trust, and prevents DDoS attacks
Data Privacy & Compliance
With the evolving creator economy, understanding data privacy and compliance regulations is crucial. California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), UK GDPR and the UK Data Protection Act 2018 are relevant privacy laws. Only collect essential data during onboarding and retain key details.
Why Is It Important? Controls data collection, user rights, and data consent, ensuring transparency
Creator-Level Security Features
Digital Rights Management(DRM)
DRM is the technology for protecting digital content from unauthorized access. It protects content with encryption and applies rules that limit access to the content. Encryption, access control, licensing, watermarking, and device restrictions all come under DRM techniques.
Why Is It Important?: Safeguards content from privacy, safe sharing, usage rights, protects earnings and compliance.
Geo-Blocking
Geo-blocking restricts users from specific countries to access your content. So, how does geo-blocking work? The platform identifies users coming from a specific location with the IP address. For example, creators might avoid high-risk locations for fraudulent activity or restrict access for regional compliance.
Why Is It Important? Reduced fraud & vulnerability, regulatory compliance, and block unnecessary traffic.
Token-based Access/ Signed URL
A token-based URL is a powerful tool for protecting videos from unauthorized access and privacy. It is a time-limited link that grants access to a video for a specific period of time or under conditions, like a specific website or IP address.
Why Is It Important? Restricts access, limits usage by geolocation or IP, and enforces time-based viewing.
Content Moderation
Creator platforms like Patreon, Fansly and OnlyFans host user-generated content uploaded by platform creators. While this content is engaging, it can often be spammy, hateful, harmful or even include adult content. Content moderation enforces platform guidelines that decide what content must be posted, what isn’t allowed, and how to keep the platform safe.
Why Is It Important? Reduce abuse, build trust, protect minors from getting exposed to adult content, and ensure long-term stability.
Download Protection & Anti-Piracy Features
Copyright and infringement steal away your creative energy, brand reputation, and valuable time. Creator platforms should employ download protection & anti-piracy measures like dynamic watermarking, encryption control, and multi-factor authentication.
Why Is It Important? Prevents copyright issues, maintains brand reputation, protects intellectual property, and provides real-time monitoring.
Proactive Approach
Privacy Policy & TOS
A clear privacy policy ensures compliance and defines how your business handles data. GDPR and CCPA laws even require the inclusion of privacy policies in your platform. A strong, transparent policy includes what information is collected, how it is collected, the reason for data collection, and the opt-out policy.
Why Is It Important? Legal compliance, preventing security breaches, informing customers, transparency, and data collection.
Regular Audits & Reporting
A security audit helps to proactively identify and fix vulnerabilities that can cause a potential data breach. It evaluates multiple components of your infrastructure: OS, servers, applications, communication tools, and third-party tools.
Why Is It Important?: Identify vulnerabilities, prevent future breaches, ensure data protection, and prioritize security measures.
Anti-Fraud Mechanisms
A security fraud drains your platform’s revenue and resources. Employ a multi-layered fraud prevention mechanism to detect the red flags, validate payments and trace suspicious activity. Identity verification, 3D Secure, multi-factor authentication, DRM protection, and chargeback prevention are different levels of fraud-prevention mechanisms.
Why Is It Important?: Reduced payment disputes, chargebacks, detect fake accounts, and deal with platform abuse
User Education
Educating users is crucial to avoid human errors like phishing, weak or reused credentials. Many cyber attackers exploit human errors to find loopholes and compromise infrastructure security. User education helps prevent such exploits and detect and report security incidents early.
Why Is It Important? Prevent phishing and social engineering attempts, early detection of security incidents, and build a security culture.
Conclusion
To lay a secure foundation for your creator platform, blend a proactive and reactive cyber approach. On top of that, you must conduct regular security audits, ensure real-time monitoring, and educate users on platform policies and possible security threats. Security is a competitive advantage and USP of your creator platform.
So, if you’re building an OnlyFans-like platform, leverage a proven OnlyFans clone to build a secure, scalable, feature-rich creator platform. From implementing data encryption to geo-blocking and anti-piracy measures, you get a multi-layered approach for sustainable business growth.
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About the Author:
Meet Angela Daniel, an esteemed cybersecurity expert and the Associate Editor at SecureBlitz. With a profound understanding of the digital security landscape, Angela is dedicated to sharing her wealth of knowledge with readers. Her insightful articles delve into the intricacies of cybersecurity, offering a beacon of understanding in the ever-evolving realm of online safety.
Angela's expertise is grounded in a passion for staying at the forefront of emerging threats and protective measures. Her commitment to empowering individuals and organizations with the tools and insights to safeguard their digital presence is unwavering.
