Hackers Without Borders and CrowdSec sign a partnership to serve civil society
Geneva, June 14, 2022 – The NGO Hackers Without Borders (HWB) has just signed a promising partnership with CrowdSec, the editor of an open-source cyber defense solution.
This partnership aims to make security accessible to the largest number of people by offering a more modern and collaborative approach thanks to an open-source tool (under MIT license) and free of charge, available for GNU/Linux (the Windows agent is in alpha test phase and macOS is on the roadmap). The recent cyber attack on the ICRC was a serious warning that NGOs are prime targets for cyber attackers. Through this partnership, CrowdSec will provide HWB with access to its suite of solutions consisting of three main products:
- an open-source detection and remediation agent
- an online console providing instant insight into any suspicious activity on the user’s services
- a “Cyber Threat Intelligence” database of malicious IP addresses detected by the CrowdSec community.
A common goal: report the hundreds of thousands of IP addresses that are dangerous to NGOs in order to make them resilient to cyberattacks
This will provide NGOs with an additional, proactive line of defense, capable of reducing background noise and countering a wide variety of attacks while collaborating with each other and ensuring mutual protection. The availability of these tools will allow users to detect and block cyber attacks while sharing intelligence about them. The goal is to leverage the intelligence and strength of the community to mutualize threat detection and remediation, providing a comprehensive cyber defense.
“This partnership with HWB is a real materialization of the idea at the genesis of the CrowdSec project: to make cybersecurity accessible to as many people as possible via collaboration. There are far fewer cyber attackers than defenders. We need to use this advantage of numbers, and that means helping each other. Our solution is already used in more than 160 countries, by universities, hospitals, research centers, armed forces, governments, and businesses of all sizes. Protecting and supporting NGOs in their fight is a logical and natural next step for CrowdSec”, explains Philippe Humeau, Co-founder and CEO of CrowdSec.
“Without a collective and holistic approach, the security of NGOs and individuals will not exist. HWB is now equipped with a powerful network of international experts in cybersecurity, including those of CrowdSec. This partnership, sealed on common values, allows us to accelerate our development and to bring a concrete and free solution to more than 800 NGOs in France and Switzerland (Geneva International alone counts 42 international organizations and about 750 NGOs). We are “field” experts and most of these NGOs are also present on the African continent where we have solid expertise. It is unthinkable to talk about NGOs without talking about Africa and without having the experience on this continent: we have it”, says Karim Lamouri, Co-founder and President of HSF.
About CrowdSec
CrowdSec was founded in December 2019 by Philippe Humeau, Thibault Koechlin and Laurent Soubrevilla. The French company publishes open-source software for identifying and sharing malicious IP addresses. When a CrowdSec installation detects a cyber attack, this report is “cross-checked” and, if legitimate, shared with all users so that they can protect themselves. CrowdSec is able to block port scans, web scans, password attacks, as well as application denial of service, bots, and credit card fraud, among many other classes of attacks. It also publishes a console that provides an instant overview of any suspicious activity on the protected services. Finally, it provides a database of malicious IP addresses detected by the community, which is present in over 160 countries.
To find out more: https://crowdsec.net
About Hackers Without Borders
Hackers Without Borders is a non-governmental organization that provides assistance to civil society in the event of cyber attacks. It provides cyber protection and humanitarian assistance to NGOs and victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence. It acts in response to emergencies while promoting respect for international humanitarian law and its implementation in national legislation and offers its support without any criteria of race, religion, belief or political convictions.
To find out more: https://hwb.ngo/fr/
