Written By Tonya Riley

[excerpt] PWNED: Google will start offering its top level of cybersecurity protection free to presidential and congressional campaigns, the company announced this morning. Google is offering the service called “advanced protection” through Defending Digital Campaigns, a nonprofit organization that won Federal Election Commission approval to supply campaigns with free and reduced-price cybersecurity tools and services without violating campaign finance laws.

Advanced protection is essentially a super-secure way for users to verify their identities when they log into websites using a physical key that resembles a USB drive. The devices work both with Google-owned services such as Gmail and with many prominent non-Google services, such as tools from Apple and Mozilla.

The company plans to provide enough free keys for campaigns to give them to all the staffers they want – up to several hundred on a presidential campaign, Google head of account security Mark Risher told me. The company also hopes to work with DDC to offer training to ensure campaigns are using the devices correctly and securely, Risher said.

DDC is already offering security tools from the anti-phishing firm Area 1 Security, the encrypted messaging platform Wickr, the email security firm Agari and the software and mobile security firm Lookout, among others. (cont.)