FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2023 

Contact:

Kathleen R. McMorrow

The Communications Optic, LLC.

Phone: 973.665.8167

Email: [email protected]

HG’s PRESIDENT CYNTHIA HETHERINGTON NAMED TO RAVEN BOARD OF ADVISORS

Hetherington to serve as OSINT and cyber investigations expert to protect children from exploitation

(Wanaque, NJ) Cynthia Hetherington, founder and President of Hetherington Group (Hg), has been named to the Raven Board of Advisors as a subject matter expert in open source (OSINT) and cyber investigations. Hetherington will contribute to Raven’s mission to transform the United States’ response to child exploitation.

“Raven was formed to bring together subject matter experts through multiple disciplines including experts in policy, laws, investigations, education, and research,” stated John Pizzuro, Raven CEO. “We are thrilled that Cynthia will bring her online investigative tradecraft to the table in our efforts to focus on our most important resource: our children.”

As the first and only 501(c)4 group focused on child exploitation in the United States, Raven work with lawmakers, advocates, agencies, and organizations who are willing to challenge the status quo and fight to protect our most vulnerable citizens. Raven has assembled a group of subject matter experts in research, lobbying, policy and child protection, and investigation of child exploitation.

Ms. Hetherington will collaborate with experts in the development and dissemination of skills and data key to the reduction and, ultimately, eradication of online child exploitation.

“Child protection is an issue of great importance to me,” stated Ms. Hetherington. “It is a humbly honor to have been chosen to work with Raven’s brilliant, talented, and dedicated team. Great things are on the horizon in the advancement of child protections, and I am thrilled to be part of this endeavor.”

According to the US. Government Accountability Office’s December 2022 report:

In 2021, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) received approximately 29.4 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation, an increase of 35 percent from 2020. That includes but is not limited to sex trafficking, sexual abuse, selling or buying of children, activities involving the sexual abuse of children, and activities related to material constituting or containing sexual abuse of children. The victims range from very young children to adolescents and from all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds across the globe.

“The statistics are a startling harbinger of the online risks our most vulnerable population experiences each time they enter cyberspaces such as social media platforms,” Hetherington continued. “Hg has been and will continue to be committed to supporting the efforts of law enforcement, government agencies, and organizations working to end child exploitation,” Ms. Hetherington continued.”

Download Hg’s free FactSheet, What the App?! Top Social Media APPS and the Lowdown on What Info They Collect, and learn how to protect children’s privacy on a variety of popular apps.

About Cynthia Hetherington, MLS, MSM, CFE, CII

Ms. Hetherington is a contributor to multiple organizations striving to empower women and young girls. She is an active member in the Women in Security Forum, the Women’s President Organization, and collaborates with The National Center for Women and Information Technology on drawing young girls into the profession. Ms. Hetherington serves as a lecturer and mentor to CybHER.org and RocketGirls at CyberSpace Camps held at the Kennedy Space Center, and she shares her experiences and expertise as a keynote speaker and contributor at women-focused technology events and conferences across the U.S.

Ms. Hetherington was awarded the prestigious Women in IT New York’s Security Leader of the Year 2022. In 2021, Ontic Center for Protective Intelligence honored Ms. Hetherington with the Protective Intelligence Pioneer Award. In 2019, she was honored with the Enterprising Woman of the Year Award by Enterprising Women Magazine and the CybHER Warrior Award by Dakota State University Madison Cyber Labs. Also in 2019, she was shortlisted for the coveted Women in IT New York’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award and named a finalist in the esteemed Ernst & Young LLP New Jersey Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. Ms. Hetherington is a recipient of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ James Baker Speaker of the Year Award.

About Raven

A 501(c)4 political lobby, Raven protects children from victimization by raising awareness of the threat of online child exploitation, increasing resources and funding to law enforcement, and lobbying for policy changes on the local and federal level.

 

###