As the Threat Landscape Advances: How Digital Artists Can Protect Their Work

Cybersecurity issues are a prevalent concern for many in today’s digital ecosphere, as over half (61%) of U.S. adults have “at some point” discovered that their personal data was breached “in at least one account,” the Digital Privacy Survey Report 2024 from the U.S. News & World Report unveiled. For individual digital artists, the consequences of a cybersecurity incident can extend well beyond leaked data and financial damage. With the goal of protecting intellectual property and digital art pieces themselves, successful protection requires a layered and modern approach that considers the rapid evolution of the threat landscape. 

Nailing down the basics 

While the age of AI requires a more strategic approach surrounding cybersecurity for creatives across the board, basic approaches and awareness still hold strong and will set the foundation for safe creation online. However, the evolving threat landscape makes it necessary to take things a step further. ‘Old-school’ techniques, such as strong passwords and two-factor authentication can be a first-layer defense in personal cybersecurity, though it doesn’t end there. In addition to a secure digital archive and cloud storage system, regular backups and physical copies (such as an external hard drive) can help create a robust storage system.

Antivirus software and general cybersecurity safety tips (such as never sharing your passwords, or connecting to an unsecure public network) will always serve a digital artist well. Taking things a step further, however, can be the perfect way to double down on threat protection. Endpoint detection and response (EDR) options enable individuals to protect themselves against cyber threats such as ransomware by successfully monitoring activity for suspicious occurrences. When detected, EDR platforms are able to quarantine infected devices (such as a laptop), which will help protect the network (and any other connected devices). Along with up to date threat detection, EDR solutions with ideal features such as human-led oversight as well as comprehensive support can prove to be essential for those who are new to such protection systems. With a reputable EDR solution that also has a user-friendly interface, digital artists can focus on their work with greater peace of mind.

AI-driven threats play a complicated role

Threats driven by artificial intelligence (AI) have taken center stage in today’s cybersecurity landscape. For context, many security professionals (more specifically, 87%) noted that their organization had experienced this type of attack within just the last year, research from the SoSafe 2025 Cybercrime Trends report highlights. In the realm of digital art, on the other hand, it’s crucial to note that bad actors are able to weaponize AI, using the tech to complement more common attacks (like ransomware). One threat highlighted by a 2025 Politico article by Dana Nickel explores a unique strategy used by a ransomware gang that goes by the name of “LunaLock,” which has been known to unfortunately target freelance artists. Targeting the group Artists&Clients, LunaLock ordered that the site owners pay a hefty ransom, “threatening to expose the stolen data and feed the work into datasets for large language models,” Politico reports. 

AI can also be used to enhance common scams, which have already been known to plague small digital artists online. For example, netizens have reported that scammers have been known to request a commission from an artist online in addition to sample work. From there, the scammer will disappear with the work (only for it to re-emerge on the internet later on, seemingly altered by AI). In other cases, artists have found their own work online, stolen by scammers. Artists can protect themselves by staying up to date on current scams that involve AI, exercising caution when accepting new commissions, and reporting any work that has been stolen on the respective platform. 

Beyond cyber attacks — additional online art protection

The LunaLock attack underlines the prevalence of layered cybersecurity threats today that make use of AI technology, and further reinforces the sheer importance of basic cybersecurity measures. Beyond a strategic attack that includes the weaponization of AI in order to steal art, those who wish to protect their work online from machine-learning models. Such machine-learning models have been known to scrape art online in order to train AI for the sake of generating images, a notion that many disagree with.

While some artists may be okay with their art being used to train AI, it’s important to note that in many cases, ‘scraping’ has been done without the artists’ consent, leaving many to scramble in order to protect their work and individual artistic styles. One MIT Technology Review article notes that the use of tools can help “mask” an artist’s image to protect it from being used or copied in such a way. For example, researchers at the University of Chicago have actually developed a tool for this purpose — called Glaze, the free app works to add small changes to the image that, while essentially appearing invisible, are undecipherable to machine-learning models. 

It’s crucial that digital artists keep in mind that art protection tools may not be a bulletproof solution. A 2025 article from the University of Cambridge focuses on research done on popular art protection tools (specifically Glaze and NightShade). The article goes on to note that the international team of researchers discovered that “these tools have critical weaknesses that mean they cannot reliably stop AI models from training on artists’ work.” The article further explains that the researchers were able to “bypass” the protective efforts put into place by the tools with LightShed, a method that was created by the researchers. Essentially, the method enabled purposeful distortions to be removed, which would leave artist images once again vulnerable. While such findings underline the desperate need for more protective measures for digital artists, practical advice can help in the meantime. For starters, understanding where you share your work online as well as any opt-out policies can help protect digital creations from AI scraping. Other options suggested by netizens include putting the work behind a paywall, which can help deter scraping (though isn’t a foolproof solution). 

In order to successfully protect their work, digital artists must consider cybersecurity strategies that go far beyond the basics, especially due to the evolving threat landscape. From fundamental considerations like cloud security and EDR solutions to the value of innovative tools to protect against AI, effective protection requires a thoughtful and layered approach.