Conservatives Must Defend Themselves Against Assaults in Cyberspace

The internet is a treacherous place for conservatives, especially effective ones, due to the threats they face. During the June 1st premiere of their hit documentary, “What is a Woman?”, the Daily Wire site was hit with a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack in an attempt to disrupt the availability of the movie. Earlier this year, the crowdfunding service GiveSendGo was hacked, resulting in the leak of names and other information of more than 92,000 donors to the Canadian “freedom convoy”. Both events clearly illustrate that proper cyber defenses are non-negotiable for conservative organizations and groups as they are increasingly under threat by cyber-attacks launched from malicious hackers bent on damaging and outright removing their online presence.

When GiveSendGo was hacked back in February, the Canadian trucker convoy was capturing attention all over the world. Polarizing situations like these often invite the curiosity of hackers looking to profit off the interest. However, the hacktivist (or hacktivists) behind this leak were aiming to inflict much more harm on their target. With the details of the crowdfunding project exposed, thousands of Canadians and Americans could now be targeted in efforts to bring their identities to light and have them punished. GiveSendGo’s ability to safeguard its customers and their data was put into question, along with the online safety of conservatives in general or even those who may simply disagree with their government.

Another hack against conservatives occurred during the release of the Daily Wire’s “What is a Woman?” documentary. Instead of targeting the confidentiality of data, these hackers were aiming to limit the availability of a service. While “many viewers” encountered issues because of the DDoS attack, it seems that most were able to watch the movie as “the premiere had more viewers than any stream in the history of the site.” This cyber-attack failed in its goal to remove all access to the premier, but it did send a message that there are technically capable people looking to prevent conservatives from producing content online. Underlying this threat is the fact that the attack could have been much more powerful. The DDoS attack against the Daily Wire reached one million requests per minute at its peak, hardly a blockbuster number compared to the much larger DDoS attack that occurred on the same day but topped out at forty-six million requests per second.

Conservative groups, organizations, and even individuals must realize the situation they are in. There are malicious hackers looking to do massive harm to income streams, brands, and livelihoods. If action is not taken and investment made to mitigate these risks, then the attacks will only grow more frequent and impactful. Websites, applications, databases, and processes must be built with security in mind. If money is available, it must be spent to buy security tools and staff that can provide sufficient cyber defense capabilities. There are also plenty of free online guides, frameworks, tools, and services that can help cash strapped organizations start to secure their assets. Cyber security professionals looking to volunteer have the chance to provide massive security posture improvements at no cost. Most importantly, conservatives must demand that law enforcement catch and hold responsible those breaking the law and demand that their representatives fight legislatively to protect their rights to be online.

Recent cyber-attacks on conservatives have revealed that they cannot afford to take a lax approach to their cyber defenses. They must be determined in facing down these hacktivists who feel emboldened to launch cyber-attacks at those they disagree with politically. Conservatives may be under attack, but they must not stoop to their attackers’ level by launching counter cyber-attacks. Rather, they must defend themselves and work to expose their aggressors. If this issue is not dealt with, it has the chance to heat up and dwarf the attacks seen so far. It also threatens the integrity of the internet. Conservatives deserve to be online to advocate for their positions. Everyone who values a safe and open internet must stand against those who would use force to push their opponents offline. It’s time to fight back.