US firm offers free cybersecurity help to federal campaigns

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — A major U.S. web infrastructure and security company will provide free support to federal election campaigns to help thwart any repeats of the 2016 effort by Russian agents to steal and leak sensitive campaign emails and documents.

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.

To qualify, a U.S. House candidate’s campaign must have received at least $50,000 in contributions, with the minimum of $100,000 in contributions for U.S. Senate candidates. In addition, any House or Senate campaign that has qualified for the general election also will be eligible.



FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2019, file photo, Cloudflare co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince, right center, applauds during New York Stock Exchange opening bell ceremonies to celebrate his company's IPO. San Francisco-based Cloudflare said Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020, it will provide free cybersecurity support to federal election campaigns. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/7f323399c1a1ddf3883d8cbd7e28caac

[TheBlackAdder]

1. Prince, no relation to Erik Prince, right?

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Cloudflare has faced several controversies over its stance on providing technical support to online hate groups and terrorists[7][8][9][10]—support it has defended based on the principle of free speech.[11] Cloudflare stated that it will "continue to abide by the law" and "serve all customers", further explaining "our proper role is not that of Internet censor".[12] These controversies have involved Cloudflare's service of The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and Holocaust denial commentary and message board website;[13] and 8chan,[14] an imageboard which has been linked to multiple mass shootings in the United States and the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand.[15][16] In 2017, Cloudflare decided to cease providing services to The Daily Stormer. In August 2019, Cloudflare stopped services for 8chan following a mass shooting in El Paso stating that 8chan is "refusing to moderate their hate-filled community".[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudflare

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[ancianita]

2. To me this doesn't sound like a good thing at all. They're not white hats at all.