Compliance Management, Privacy

Clinton, Romney campaign managers join forces to fight election hacking

A bipartisan project to fight election hacking has been launched at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, with Mitt Romney's and Hillary Clinton's former campaign managers playing major leadership roles.

The Defending Digital Democracy (DDD) project will feature a troika of prominent leaders: senior fellow Robby Mook, Clinton's 2016 campaign manager; senior fellow Matt Rhoades, Romney's 2012 campaign manager; and Belfer Center Co-Director Eric Rosenbach, who will serve as project director. Other experts from national security and technology organizations, including Facebook and Google, will also serve in key roles.

The DDD's stated goal is to “identify and recommend strategies, tools, and technology to protect democratic processes and systems from cyber and information attacks,” the project organizers said in a statement.

Rhoades and Mook called cyberattacks by foreign entities a major threat to the U.S. electoral process that requires a joint effort by both parties to combat effectively.

“Over the last two years, nearly every election on both sides of the Atlantic has been affected by foreign cyber attacks, including Hillary Clinton's in 2016,” said Mook, with Rhoades adding, “This project will bring together not just different parties and ideologies, but subject matter experts from cybersecurity, national security, technology, and election administration to make a difference.” 

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