ZoraSafe wants to protect seniors online and will present it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

Aside from antivirus applications, the cybersecurity industry has traditionally been a business, with ordinary internet users left on their own to protect themselves. Older people, who did not grow up with the Internet and smartphones, may be most at risk.

ZoraSafea startup founded by sisters Katherine Caro and Ellie King Caro, wants to step in and help them. Their idea is to create an app that not only protects seniors from scammers and hackers, but also teaches them how to stay safe through play-based microlearning, Katherine and Eli told TechCrunch before starting the project. Disable TechCrunch The conference, of which ZoraSafe will be a part The emerging battlefield.

The app hasn’t launched yet, but Katherine and Eli expect it to launch within a month. They said it will cost $12.99 per month for individual subscribers, and a higher price for family and group plans.

Katherine explained in a phone call that the first version of the app will have several features, such as a mode for scanning QR codes for malware or phishing, the ability to send suspicious SMS and emails to ZoraSafe for scanning, and a feature to share a known scam or threat with the app so it can be added to a database to help other users.

“We’re trying to drive social sharing of the scams, so we can also alert the entire Zora network at once, so that one person is alerted to this scam, and then we can make sure everyone in that community is protected immediately,” Katherine said.

Future versions will also include a feature that allows users to get ZoraSafe to join a suspicious phone call, so the company’s AI system can detect whether it’s a scam or a fake call. However, in this case, the app will not listen to or record calls, according to Katherine.

Eli said that once the app detects a threat, it will start a conversation that explains to the user what that threat is and teaches them how to detect and deal with similar situations in the future.

“The whole purpose is to build resilience and hopefully make it so that even if you’re not directly interacting with the app, you’re a little more aware when you’re interacting online,” she added.

Eli said the AI ​​engine was designed with privacy in mind, doing 85% of the processing on-device, and only 15% in the cloud, which it claimed “will have your personal information sanitized before it leaves your device.”

Catherine also said they plan to create an “NFC sticker” that will be integrated into phone cases so users can quickly pull up the app if they receive a prank call, or even if they fall and need to alert their caregivers. This is one way they plan to get around iOS’s restriction on apps monitoring what’s happening in other apps. Another way is to have a “Share to ZoraSafe” option in the iOS menu which will allow users to send text messages or emails to the company’s systems.

Eventually, the sisters said they would like to expand the ZoraSafe app to include children as well, partnering with schools, as well as launching the app in different languages, starting with Spanish.

If you want to learn more about ZoraSafe — while also checking out dozens of other companies, hearing their presentations, and hearing from guest speakers at four different stages — join us at Disrupt, October 27-29, in San Francisco. Learn more here.