Online Trust Alliance

TO ENHANCE ONLINE TRUST, WHILE PROMOTING INNOVATION AND THE VITALITY OF THE INTERNET.

IN APRIL 2017, THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AGREED TO MERGE AND FOLD OTA INTO THE INTERNET SOCIETY, A LIKE-MINDED 501C3 ORGANIZATION. THROUGH JULY 2017 OTA COMPLETED THE TRANSITION PROCESS INCLUDING EXTENDING MEMBERSHIP TO ALL OTA MEMBERS. SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES THAT SUPPORT OTA'S MISSION TO ENHANCE ONLINE TRUST AND USER EMPOWERMENT WHILE PROMOTING INNOVATION AND THE VITALITY OF THE INTERNET INCLUDE: " THE ONLINE TRUST HONOR ROLL AND AUDIT" - IN JUNE 2017, OTA RELEASED THE 9TH ANNUAL ONLINE TRUST AUDIT REVIEWING OVER 1,000 SITES, WITH ADDED CRITERIA AND ANALYSIS INCLUDING A DOUBLING OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SECTOR TO BRING ALL SECTORS TO A MINIMUM OF 100 SITES, AND THE ADDITION OF THE ISP/HOSTERS SECTOR TO EVALUATE BROADBAND PROVIDERS AND WEB HOSTERS. THE HONOR ROLL IS A COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION OF THE WORLD'S TOP WEBSITES FOR DOMAIN/BRAND PROTECTION, PRIVACY AND SECURITY PRACTICES. ANNUALLY OTA SOLICITS COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC REGARDING NEW CRITERIA AND SCORING FOR FUTURE YEARS' AUDITS, REFLECTING THE EVOLUTION OF SECURITY AND PRIVACY STANDARDS AND PRACTICES. THE AUDIT UNDERSCORED THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUED MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT OF SECURITY AND PRIVACY SETTINGS AND PRACTICES OF SITES AND MOBILE APPLICATIONS. HTTPS://OTALLIANCE.ORG/TRUSTAUDIT. " VISION FOR TRUST EDUCATIONAL WHITE PAPERS" - OTA PUBLISHED A SERIES OF WHITE PAPERS FOCUSED ON KEY TRUST ISSUES IN VARIOUS AREAS - "IOT VISION FOR THE FUTURE", "SECURING THE INTERNET OF THINGS - A COLLABORATIVE & SHARED RESPONSIBILITY", "VISION FOR TRUSTED EMAIL", AND "VISION FOR TRUSTWORTHY ADVERTISING". HTTPS://OTALLIANCE.ORG/VISION. " THE DATA PROTECTION & CYBER INCIDENT READINESS GUIDE" - RELEASED IN JANUARY 2017 AND FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2011, OTA PUBLISHES A PRESCRIPTIVE GUIDE TO HELP ASSIST BUSINESSES TO PREPARE, DETECT, MITIGATE AND RESPOND TO DATA LOSS INCIDENTS. OTA SUBSEQUENTLY HELD MULTIPLE ONLINE BRIEFINGS AND WEBINARS TO HELP REACH AND EDUCATE THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY. THE 2017 REPORT WAS EXPANDED IN SEVERAL AREAS INCLUDING REDEFINING THE SCOPE TO A BROADER SET OF CYBER INCIDENTS INCLUDING RANSOMWARE, EXPANDED PREVENTION, BEST PRACTICES, RISK ASSESSMENT AND CYBER INSURANCE CONSIDERATIONS ALONG WITH ADDITIONAL RISK ASSESSMENT CHECK LISTS. HTTPS://OTALLIANCE.ORG/INCIDENT. " EMAIL UNSUBSCRIBE AUDIT & MARKETING PRACTICES" - FOR THE 3RD YEAR OTA COMPLETED AN AUDIT OF THE EMAIL UNSUBSCRIBE PRACTICES OF THE TOP 200 ONLINE RETAILERS. THE REPORT SERVED TO HELP IDENTIFY TRENDS AND PROMOTE BEST PRACTICES AND TRANSPARENCY WHILE RECOGNIZING INDUSTRY LEADERS WHO ACHIEVE TOP SCORES AGAINST BENCHMARK STANDARDS. HTTPS://OTALLIANCE.ORG/UNSUB. " INTERNET OF THINGS WORKING GROUP (IOTWG)" - THE WORKING GROUP CONVENED SEVERAL MULTI-STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS AND BRIEFINGS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. HTTPS://OTALLIANCE.ORG/IOT. IN SEPTEMBER, A STUDY WAS RELEASED FINDING THAT 100% OF RECENT IOT VULNERABILITIES WERE PREVENTABLE BY FOLLOWING OTA'S IOT FRAMEWORK. A KEY DELIVERABLE WAS THE RELEASE OF THE V2.0 OF THE IOT TRUST FRAMEWORK IN JANUARY AT THE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW AND A FOLLOW UP UPDATE V2.5 IN JUNE AT THE ANNUAL MEMBER MEETING. MOVING FORWARD THE GOAL IS FOR THE FRAMEWORK TO BECOME THE FOUNDATION FOR A VOLUNTARY CODE OF CONDUCT AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS. HTTPS://OTALLIANCE.ORG/IOTINDUSTRY. " TRAINING, EDUCATION & ENABLEMENT" - OTA CONTINUED TO DEVELOP AND DELIVERS VARIOUS CYBER SECURITY AND PRIVACY TRAINING PROGRAMS AROUND THE WORLD INVOLVING BUT NOT LIMITED TO EMAIL AUTHENTICATION, ADVERTISING SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY AND DATA BREACH READINESS. IN ADDITION, OTA OFFERS NUMEROUS WEBINARS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC WITH THE GOAL TO ACCELERATE THE DEPLOYMENT OF ONLINE TRUST BEST PRACTICES. IN THIS PAST YEAR, OTA DELIVERED IN PERSON TRAINING TO NEARLY 1,000 ATTENDEES AND REACHED AN ADDITIONAL 100,000 VIA ONLINE DOWNLOADS AND WEB VISITS. HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/USER/OTALLIANCE " COMMUNITY OUTREACH" - DATA PRIVACY DAY (DPD) IS AN INTERNATIONAL EVENT HELD EVERY JANUARY TO RAISE AWARENESS AND PROMOTE DATA PRIVACY EDUCATION. SINCE 2009, OTA HAS HOSTED DPD EVENTS TO HELP BUSINESSES ENHANCE THEIR DATA PROTECTION AND BE PREPARED FOR A DATA BREACH INCIDENT. THESE EVENTS HAVE INCLUDED PARTICIPATION FROM THE FTC, FBI, U.S. SECRET SERVICE, FCC AND VARIOUS STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICES ALONG WITH INDUSTRY LEADERS INCLUDING MICROSOFT, SYMANTEC, TWITTER AND OTHERS. OTA PARTICIPATED IN AND / OR HOSTED OVER TWO DOZEN WEBINARS AND EVENTS ON A RANGE OF TOPICS SUPPORTING OTA'S MISSION. HTTPS://OTALLIANCE.ORG/DPD " SHAPING PUBLIC POLICY" - AT THE REQUEST OF MEMBERS OF THE U.S. SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, OTA HELD SEVERAL MEETINGS WITH CONGRESSIONAL STAFF TO PROVIDE INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES. IN ADDITION, OTA WAS AN INVITED SPEAKER AND ACTIVE PARTICIPANT MULTI STAKEHOLDER EVENTS CONVENED BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (NTIA) FOCUSING ON IOT SECURITY AND PATCHABILITY AND NUMEROUS INDUSTRY RELATED EVENTS. OTA ALSO HOSTED CONGRESSIONAL STAFF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS ON A RANGE OF TOPICS FROM BREACH READINESS TO PROVIDING AN OVERVIEW OF THE ANNUAL TRUST AUDIT. OTA RESPONDED TO SEVERAL REQUESTS FOR COMMENTS AND INCLUDING NTIA'S RFC ON BOTNETS AND THE FTC'S REQUEST FOR COMMENTS ON CANSPAM HTTPS://OTALLIANCE.ORG/INITIATIVES/PUBLIC-POLICY " BEST PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT" - WORKING WITH STANDARDS, BUSINESS AND TECHNICAL COMMUNITIES, OTA DEVELOPS AND ADVOCATES A RANGE OF BEST PRACTICES INCLUDING: HTTPS://OTALLIANCE.ORG/BESTPRACTICES - ADVERTISING SUPPLY CHAIN RISK EVALUATION FRAMEWORK - ALWAYS ON SSL (AOSSL) - EMAIL AUTHENTICATION (SPF, DKIM AND DMARC) - EXTENDED VALIDATION SSL CERTIFICATES (EVSSL) - MALVERTISING REMEDIATION - MOBILE APP PRIVACY & SECURITY - NATIVE ADVERTISING - RESPONSIBLE VULNERABILITY REPORTING - PRIVACY POLICY BEST PRACTICES; MOVING TO DISCOVERABILITY & READABILITY FOR THE USER - SERVER & SSL SECURITY - TRANSPORT LAYERS SECURITY (TLS) FOR EMAIL - UNSUBSCRIBE EMAIL; MOVING FROM COMPLIANCE TO STEWARDSHIP" ACTIVE COMMITTEES" - OTA'S VARIOUS COMMITTEES BRING TOGETHER SOME OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST BRANDS, BRIGHTEST MINDS IN CYBER SECURITY AND PRIVACY, AND MOST INFLUENTIAL POLITICIANS TO HELP FURTHER ONLINE TRUST. THESE COMMITTEES CONCENTRATE ON: HTTPS://OTALLIANCE.ORG/COMMITTEES - PUBLIC POLICY & LEGISLATION - INFRASTRUCTURE & SSL - EMAIL SECURITY & INTEGRITY - ADVERTISING & CONTENT INTEGRITY - DATA PROTECTION & BREACH READINESS PLANNING - INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT)