Written By Daniel Dobrygowski

[excerpt]: This is where private companies can play a bigger role. If civic responsibility isn’t enough of a reason, economic incentives also demand that companies act as proactive democratic citizens. Democracy is good for economic growth. More directly, supporting elections in a non-partisan way (like encouraging people to vote or securing polling stations) can also help a company’s bottom line — “being pro-democracy and pro-voter” has been shown to be good for companies.

There are two broad areas where companies can help: They can offer technology, and they can share knowledge.

We’re already seeing examples of technological assistance from the private sector. The most high-profile effort, Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program, has offered an array of solutions for security and combating disinformation. Google just announced a partnership with the nonpartisan, nonprofit Defending Digital Campaigns to consult on digital security and help campaigns protect their email accounts. Smaller companies and organizations are also offering security help, from Cloudflare’s Project Galileo, which protects civil rights and democratic institutions’ websites, to Security Scorecard’s Project Escher, which helps such organizations monitor their own security. The Department of Homeland Security maintains a library of resources aimed at safeguarding electoral systems. More companies can step up and offer such resources for free or at low cost — and work on developing more offerings for election infrastructure, not just for campaigns.

Elastic, the company behind Elasticsearch and the Elastic Stack, is excited to announce that it will offer free monitored Elastic Endpoint Security to 2020 presidential and congressional campaigns in partnership with Defending Digital Campaigns.

Elastic has partnered with Defending Digital Campaigns (DDC), a non-partisan organization that provides low- and no-cost security products and services to federal campaigns to help defend them from cyberattacks and election interference.

Elastic is proud to deliver a monitored Elastic Endpoint Security solution, supported by members of the Elastic Security team.

“Campaigns have faced two significant barriers as they seek to better secure themselves from cyber threats: the high cost of quality cybersecurity products and the experience to organize an effective security strategy. (cont.)…

By Devon Kerr

We are excited to announce that Elastic will offer free, monitored Elastic Endpoint Security to the 2020 US presidential and congressional campaigns in partnership with Defending Digital Campaigns.

Defending Digital Campaigns (DDC) is a non-partisan organization that provides low- and no-cost security products and services to federal campaigns to help defend them from cyberattacks and election interference. We are proud to deliver a monitored Elastic Endpoint Security solution, supported by members of the Elastic Security team.

Campaigns have faced two significant barriers as they seek to better secure themselves from cyber threats: The high cost of quality cybersecurity products and the experience to organize an effective security strategy. The DDC helps campaigns quickly overcome these barriers of cost and expertise, allowing campaign staff to focus on what they do best. (cont..)

Written By MICHAEL HICKEY

Google teamed up with a nonprofit to keep political campaigns safe from cyberattacks. The effort shows a growing need for security for those who discuss sensitive topics. Also: The data that supports employee onboarding.

To help political campaigns tighten security, Google is partnering with the nonprofit Defending Digital Campaigns to give qualifying political groups free access to Titan Security Keys, The Verge reports. The partnership is a reflection of the growing need for organizations—especially those with a voice in advocacy—to take more cybersecurity measures.

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.)

Candidates can also get trained up on how to use Advanced Protection to keep their accounts safe.

Written By LILY HAY NEWMAN

Malign foreign influence operations during the 2016 United States presidential election season raised awareness about the need for tighter security within campaigns. And while the 2020 presidential campaigns have shown some improvement, many are still seriously lagging—and facing real threats—with nine months left before election day. Now Google is trying to help move the needle.

Today the search giant is announcing new efforts to help campaigns secure their GSuite accounts through the Advanced Protection program—complete with free Titan security keys. Google is working with the nonpartisan, nonprofit Defending Digital Campaigns, which will interact with political groups and distribute the free keys. DDC will also take the critical step of offering consultants to help campaigns actually activate the protections. (cont.)

Written By CAT ZAKRZEWSKI with Tonya Riley

[excerpt] That includes multifactor authentication, which requires people to enter not just a password but also a code sent to their smartphone or from a special hardware key. Experts also recommend using password managers and communicating on encrypted messaging apps, like Signal and Wickr.

It is not just candidates and staff who should be tightening up their online security but also the people operating in the periphery who might be helping out the campaign.

"You have a spouse that could be vulnerable; you have children; you have the candidate's best friend who's also the finance chair," said Michael Kaiser, president of Defending Digital Campaigns, another nonprofit that connects campaigns with free and discounted cybersecurity services and training…… (cont.)

Written By CAT ZAKRZEWSKI with Tonya Riley

Political campaigns might not have the time or money to seek out tech talent and services in their busiest season, even as concerns loom about election hacking and interference. A political odd couple is trying to change that. 

Defending Digital Campaigns — founded by Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager, and Matt Rhoades, Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign manager — is offering campaigns a wide range of free and discounted cybersecurity services. 

The nonprofit organization, which acts as a clearinghouse between campaigns and the companies, announced yesterday that it broadly expanded its industry partners to include tech heavyweights such as Microsoft and Cloudflare. 

DDC is designed to be a one-stop shop for campaigns to get protections against phishing, websites and mobile app security, multi-factor authentication through security keys, and more. (Cont…)

Written By ANNA PALMER and JAKE SHERMAN 

VALLEY TALK … WITH A ROBBY MOOK CAMEO! -- “Tech Companies Volunteer to Beef Up Presidential Campaigns’ Cybersecurity,” by WSJ’s Alexa Corse: “Nearly a dozen technology companies said they will provide free or reduced-cost cybersecurity services to presidential campaigns, which experts and intelligence officials have warned are ripe targets for intrusion and disinformation. 

“They join a growing number of firms offering protection on a nonpartisan basis, a trend that has gained steam in the past 18 months or so, since federal regulators eased rules to make such offers permissible under campaign-finance laws. The Federal Election Commission made policy changes after urging from nonprofits and technology companies, including Microsoft Corp. ...

“The partnerships between campaigns and cybersecurity companies, which include Microsoft and Cloudflare Inc., are being encouraged by a months-old nonprofit called Defending Digital Campaigns, which is helping the firms comply with campaign-finance regulations. The nonprofit is led in part by [former Mitt Romney campaign manager Matt] Rhoades and Robby Mook, campaign manager for Hillary Clinton in 2016.” WSJ … Defending Digital Campaigns

Written by : Joseph Marks

[excerpt] Defending Digital Campaigns, a nonprofit organization that offers free and reduced-price cybersecurity tools to federal election campaigns, announced this morning it's offering services from 11 new companies including Microsoft and the security-key company Yubico. Other new services come from the web security company Cloudflare and the app security firm Kryptowire among others.

 DDC began offering cybersecurity help to campaigns in May after winning a Federal Elections Commission ruling that it could do so without violating campaign finance laws. Other companies working with DDC include the anti-phishing firm Area 1 Security and the encrypted messaging platform Wickr. (cont.)

By TIM STARKS 

Defending Digital Campaigns is significantly expanding its partnerships in an effort to aid 2020 candidates and parties.

DDC GOES XXL — The nonprofit Defending Digital Campaigns is announcing today that it has more than doubled the number of companies participating in its work to offer free- and low-cost cybersecurity tools to 2020 candidates and parties. The organization, led and founded by the former presidential campaign managers for Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney as well as former top NSA and DHS officials, will now include partnerships with Altitude Networks, Atlantic Data Forensics, BlueVoyant, Cloudflare, Cofense, Kryptowire, Microsoft, Rumble, TruSTAR and Yubico.

By Alexa Corse

Nearly a dozen said they will provide free or reduced-cost services to campaigns, seen as ripe targets for intrusion and disinformation

Nearly a dozen technology companies said they will provide free or reduced-cost cybersecurity services to presidential campaigns, which experts and intelligence officials have warned are ripe targets for intrusion and disinformation. 

They join a growing number of firms offering protection on a nonpartisan basis, a trend that has gained steam in the past 18 months or so, since federal regulators eased rules to make such offers permissible under campaign-finance laws. The Federal Election Commission made policy changes after urging from nonprofits and technology companies, including Microsoft Corp.

Campaigns have struggled to make their information more secure in part because of budget pressures and the fast-moving nature of a campaign.

Written by : Bob Stevens

[Excerpt] Protecting the election starts with protecting voters

To best protect voters from becoming a victim on election day, local governments should educate users and encourage them to follow basic mobile security best practices. These include keeping applications and device software up to date, using caution when downloading mobile apps, avoiding unsecured public Wi-Fi and considering mobile security solutions with advanced phishing protection.

The public and private sectors need to continue to work together to secure all facets of the election. For instance, Defending Digital Campaigns, a nonprofit focused on providing access to cybersecurity, is partnering with companies to offer free or low-cost email security, encrypted messaging and security training to election campaigns and committees. These types of efforts are critical to keeping elections secure, starting from the campaign process.… (cont.)

Written by The Associated Press

[Excerpt] San Francisco-based Cloudflare said Wednesday it will be providing to eligible campaigns free access to several of its security services, including enhanced protection of firewalls, which defend systems and networks from unauthorized access. Other services include protection and mitigation of any denial-of-service attacks, which can paralyze a network by overwhelming it with data.

The effort is being offered in conjunction with Defending Digital Campaigns, a nonprofit group that last year received approval from the Federal Elections Commission to provide free or discounted cybersecurity services to federal candidate committees and national party committees. … (cont.)

Written By: Zack Whittaker

[excerpt] … Cloudflare’s co-founder and chief executive Matthew Prince said there was a “clear need” to help campaigns secure not only their public-facing websites but also their internal data security.

The company said it’s working with the non-partisan, nonprofit organization Defending Digital Campaigns to provide its services to campaigns. Last year the Federal Elections Commission changed the rules to allow political campaigns to receive discounted cybersecurity assistance, which was previously a campaign finance violation.(cont.)

Written by Audrey Conklin

[Excerpt] Cloudflare's offer, in coordination with campaign website nonprofit Defending Digital Campaigns (DCC), to eligible political campaigns would protect employees and volunteers from potential scammers and hackers trying to get access to confidential information.

"Political campaigns, like any organization, need a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity," DDC President and CEO Michael Kaiser said in a statement.

"Securing a candidate's website, their critical public-facing presence, and hardening access to key internal applications can vastly improve cybersecurity. Defending Digital Campaigns, with a mission to make campaigns more cyber secure, is proud to partner with Cloudflare to protect both external and internal technology assets across the campaign ecosystem," he added. … (cont.)

Written By: AMANDA ROBERT

[excerpt] … She joined several experts in sharing with the ABA Journal some potential threats from malicious foreign actors and how to counter them.

1. Entire election process could be targeted. Since it’s possible that someone could hack into the election system to change votes that then change the election outcome, Spaulding says federal authorities and local and state officials should work to secure each step of the process, including voter registration, ballot counting and election results reporting. As a board member of Defending Digital Campaigns, she is also helping to identify cybersecurity providers who can provide services to political parties and campaigns for free or at a discount. “We recognize that campaigns, particularly congressional campaigns, are usually shoestring operations,” she says. “They are often run out of someone’s kitchen or living room, and we know they can be targets.” ...(cont..)