Cybersecurity, the Trouble With Facebook, Green Investing
Dear Subscriber,
As Covid forced nonprofits to flee their offices and do everything they could online, the results were remarkable. But that success came with a price: Now nonprofits have become one of the prime targets for cyberattacks.
Even before the pandemic, few charitable organizations had taken even the most basic steps to protect themselves, reports Ben Gose in our cover story in the January issue, posted online this morning.
That lack of attention has persists as the pandemic continues, and “cybercriminals are starting to realize that nonprofits and NGOs are a fantastic market,” a top official of the Cyberpeace Institute told Ben.
At stake for theft: donor records, sensitive information about clients, personal details about employees, and much more.
In his article, Ben takes you inside how some organizations are fighting back. One is Catholic Relief Services, which faced a breach in 2017. Now the nonprofit has a staff of seven focused on cybersecurity.
But other charitable organization are holding back, in part because foundations and other donors rarely allow their funds to be used for the costs involved in securing nonprofit data. That’s why I hope grant makers will read this article as closely as nonprofit officials.
Ben’s story will help you better understand an issue that has stayed under the radar but needs to take a prominent spot on your 2022 list of priorities. And he offers plenty of sources of advice to guide you.
Technology gets our attention in other parts of the January issue, too.
Eden Stiffman looks at how revelations from Facebook whistle-blowers and others are affecting charity use of the platform. (Spoiler alert: Most nonprofits aren’t moving away from it because it’s such an effective way to reach donors, activists, and others.)
Sarah Hanson for The Chronicle
And in our opinion pages, Hollie Russon Gilman, a fellow at New America, and Ari Wallach, head of Longpath Labs, argue that philanthropy has a chance to recover from an opportunity it missed in the early days of Facebook. Now that the company that runs the big social network is focusing on the metaverse — an augmented form of virtual reality — philanthropy has an opportunity to help build digital worlds where democratic values flourish and problems are solved with empathy and understanding, they argue. And if you’re not sure you know what the metaverse is, consider this piece a primer.
Gloss