Craigslist founder Craig Newmark is donating $300 million to help bolster US cybersecurity efforts, saying “our country is under attack now.”
In an interview with Yahoo’s Opening Bid podcast, Newmark likened the current state of the cybersecurity industry to WWII, when everyone was expected to help the US war effort.
“The deal is our country is under attack now,” he told Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi. “It’s not like I’m in the recruiting line after Pearl Harbor because my dad volunteered in the ’40s, but I guess that’s what I should be doing.”
The tech icon has already invested $100 million via his Craig Newmark Philanthropies, but has committed an additional $200 million.
“I tell people, ‘Hey, the people who protect us could use some help. The amounts of money comparatively are small, so why not help out,’” he added.
Newmark’s philanthropy website outlined his goals.
He’s committed $100 million to form a Cyber Civil Defense network of groups who are starting to protect the country from cyber threats. Attacks on our power grids, our cyber infrastructure and even the internet-connected gadgets and appliances in our homes are real. If people think that’s alarmist, tell them to “Blame Craig.”
The core of Cyber Civil Defense includes groups like Aspen Digital, Global Cyber Alliance, and Consumer Reports, focusing on citizen cyber education and literacy, cyber tool development, and cybersecurity workforce programs aimed at diversifying the growing field.
The effort, launched in 2022, has already made significant investments in Black Girls Hack, Girls Who Code, the Girl Scouts, VetsinTech, the Consortium of Cyberclinics, the Ransomware Task Force, and Shadowserver.
Newmark’s investments underscore the ongoing threats surrounding cybersecurity, and the issues companies face funding proper cybersecurity defense.