Google becomes 22nd company to partner with DDC

WASHINGTON – Defending Digital Campaigns (DDC), a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization committed to bringing cybersecurity tools and resources to federal election campaigns, announced today that it has partnered with Google to provide campaigns with free security keys through the company’s Advanced Protection Program.

Google’s Advanced Protection Program is a critical and fundamental tool in protecting vital candidate and campaign assets like emails, documents, and contacts. It is Google’s strongest account protection measure against hackings.

Advanced Protection Program protects one’s Google account through numerous ways (e.g. strict sign-in protections, phishing resistance, 3rd party data access restrictions, deep scanning for malware, etc.), and is constantly updated to evolve with emerging threats. Among other measures, the program includes security keys, small physical devices, that provide an additional way to authenticate access to an account. Security keys protect accounts even if someone else has access to a password.

“Multifactor authentication is one of the best cybersecurity defenses,” said Michael Kaiser, DDC’s President and CEO. “We’re thrilled to have Google partner with us. Every campaign should make it a high priority to enroll in the Advanced Protection Program and secure their accounts.”

Google’s security keys and DDC’s additional low-to-no cost services are available to eligible federal campaigns – a special permission granted to DDC by the Federal Election Commission to operate under this model. Eligibility requirements can be found at www.defendcampaigns.org

"From candidates to canvassers, it should be easy for every member of a campaign to lock down their information with the best security protections,” said Mark Risher, Director of Product Management, Identity and User Security at Google. “We're pleased to be teaming up with Defending Digital Campaigns to provide campaigns with free Titan Security Keys, the strongest form of two-factor authentication, and help their members enroll in our Advanced Protection Program. It’s never too late for campaigns to dial up the defense, and with free security keys, we've made it easier than ever."

Google joins 21 technology and cybersecurity companies that have partnered with DDC to help campaigns be better equipped and secure, including: Agari, Altitude Networks, Area 1 Security, Atlantic Data Forensics, Automox, BlueVoyant, Cofense, Cloudflare, Cybrary, dayONE Cyber, Elastic, Elevate Security, Kryptowire, Legato Security, Lookout, Microsoft, Rumble, Sedara, TruSTAR, Wickr and Yubico.

About Defending Digital Campaigns:

Defending Digital Campaigns (DDC) is a nonprofit C4, nonpartisan and non-aligned organization providing access to cybersecurity products, services and information regardless of party affiliation.

DDC’s team includes the former presidential campaign managers for Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney, tech and cybersecurity industry leaders as well as former senior officials at the NSA and DHS. DDC’s leadership reflects its commitment to a bipartisan, nonaligned approach to increasing the cybersecurity of campaigns.

DDC’s model and ability to partner with companies to bring low-to-no cost services to campaigns was granted under special permission by the Federal Election Commission. DDC is committed to assisting as many campaigns as possible--regardless of party--with the support they need within the limits of campaign finance law.