Public Interest Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity, when applied equitably, builds trust in the institutions that provide essential services. The Public Interest Cybersecurity Program seeks to ensure that all communities that rely on technology for public life receive cybersecurity protection.

We use a local, community-centered lens to identify organizations that serve the public good but struggle with basic cyber protections, such as nonprofits, local governments, schools, and small businesses, and focus cybersecurity resources on those at high-risk for cyber attacks. Public Interest Cybersecurity focuses on practical solutions to long-term challenges, and favors highly collaborative local partnerships to develop and implement them.

The Public Interest Cybersecurity Program is inspired by many initiatives that focus technology resources on the under-served, including New America’s Public Interest Technology Network (PIT-UN), EFF’s work on Digital Safety, and the industry-shaping philanthropy of the Hewlett Foundation and Craig Newmark’s Cyber Civil Defense, among many others.

We are housed at the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity, and are affiliated with Berkeley’s School of Information.

“All communities that rely on technology for public life should have access to cybersecurity protections.“

Sarah Powazek — Director, Public Interest Cybersecurity Program

 

---