by Tony Connor, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Public Interest Registry
Security threats exist everywhere in today’s digital environment. The media and experts report that cybersecurity incidents continue to increase in both frequency and sophistication as aggressors seek to leverage system vulnerabilities in pursuit of their malignant ends. This can include everything from “hacking” into network systems to steal, change, or destroy information, to deploying malicious “ransomware” that infects a computer and restricts users’ access until a payoff is made to unlock it, to distributed denial of service attacks that inhibit data flows so networked systems or websites are useless or inaccessible for periods of time. The challenges are daunting.
Unfortunately, mission-based organizations (i.e. non-profits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or other non-commercial entities engaged in local, regional, or global social good activities) are not immune to these risks. In order to help these organizations implement an effective cybersecurity program, Public Interest Registry (PIR, the non-profit operator of .ORG with over 10.6 million domain names registered worldwide) has partnered with the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA, a non-profit organization dedicated to making the Internet a safe place by reducing cyber risk) to offer the GCA Cybersecurity Toolkit for Mission-Based Organizations.
This collection of free tools, guidance, resources, and training is designed to help organizations that may not have extensive cybersecurity expertise but want to take steps to protect their online activities. This toolkit includes resources to help inventory, configure, strengthen, protect, and back-up an organization’s devices and accounts. It will be updated regularly to include additional materials from our partners and others with subject matter expertise.
The GCA Cybersecurity Toolkit for Mission-Based Organizations is just another example of how Public Interest Registry continues to partner with experts in a variety of fields to develop and provide the mission-driven community with valuable resources that they need to fulfill their goals and make a positive impact on the world.
The toolkit can easily be shared across the mission-driven community, volunteers, donors, customers, suppliers, partners—whomever would benefit from better online security. It will also be available on the .ORG Learning Center, our repository of free articles, videos, and webinars that provides a variety of useful information and tools that every .ORG needs to be successful online.
”By offering the mission-driven community these critical cybersecurity tools, we are working toward our own goal of aiding and supporting those who have dedicated their time, resources, and lives to improving our world,” explains Paul Diaz, PIR VP of Policy and Director of the .ORG Learning Center. “Productive partnerships—like this one we share with GCA—are critical to PIR’s core educational and support efforts.”
Diaz continues: “Our aim is simple: to provide tools that are accessible to any organization that will empower them to take action to be more secure. We continue to believe that more and stronger .ORGs make the world a better place, and that we collectively benefit—economically and socially—when all parts of the digital ecosystem are more secure.”
“We believe that Internet security is one of the most significant challenges of the connected world,“ says Brian Cute, Director, Capacity & Resilience Program, GCA. “By working together with PIR to develop and deliver the tools these organizations need to ensure their online work is protected from cyber threats, we can help them to realize their missions, and in turn, make the world a better place for us all.”
About Public Interest Registry
Public Interest Registry (PIR) is a non-profit that operates the .ORG top-level domain—one of the world’s largest generic top-level domains with more than 10.6 million domain names registered worldwide. PIR has been a champion for a free and open Internet for two decades with a clear mission to be an exemplary domain name registry, provide a trusted digital identity and help educate those who dedicate themselves to improving our world. PIR was founded by the Internet Society (internetsociety.org) in 2002 and is based in Reston, Virginia, USA. Learn more at www.pir.org.
About the Global Cyber Alliance
The Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) is an international, cross-sector effort dedicated to reducing cyber risk and improving our connected world. We achieve our mission by uniting global communities, implementing concrete solutions, and measuring the effect. GCA, a 501(c)(3) in the US and a nonprofit in the UK and Belgium, was founded in September 2015 by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the City of London Police, and the Center for Internet Security. Learn more at www.globalcyberalliance.org.