Mozilla Leads New Cyber Security Initiative, Complete with Funding

Mozilla is starting a new research project targeted to usher in better security on the Internet. The Cyber Security Dephi initiative, announced in a blog post from advocacy director Dave Steer, will leverage resources from experts in academia and computer security companies to develop new online security strategies.

The announcement comes alongside Mozilla's Reset the Net initiative, which calls for a day of action to improve security against widespread surveillance.

According to the blog post:

"By all accounts, threats to the free and open Web are intensifying. According to a survey released last week by Consumer Reports, one in seven U.S. consumers received a data breach notice in 2013, and yet 62% say they did nothing to address it. Policy reform, on its own, has proven insufficient to battle the barrage of data breaches that result in an insecure Web and, for too long, the discussion of security has been dominated by a one-sided perspective that pits risk management against improving security and privacy."

"In response, Mozilla is creating a path forward through the Cyber Security Delphi. As part of the Delphi research and recommendation initiative, Mozilla will bring together the best minds in security to understand threat vectors to online security and develop a concrete agenda to address them. To guide the project, we’ve recruited an expert advisory board, including: Kelly Caine (Clemson), Matthew Green (Johns Hopkins), Ed Felten (Princeton), Chris Soghoian (ACLU), and Danny McPherson (Verisign)."

The MacArthur Foundation is helping to fund Mozilla's new initiative, and a final report from Cyber Security Dephi leaders should arrive by autumn.

You can join Mozilla's cyber security discussion at the Net Policy page at mzl.la/netpolicy.

"While the arc of the Web is pointing in the wrong direction, it doesn’t need to be," writes Steer. "We believe that a global grassroots movement can hold our leaders accountable to the principles of protecting the open Web as a resource for all. We believe that this movement will rise from the bottom up, and will be led by a stronger set of civil society organizations all over the world. And we believe that the Mozilla community as makers of the Web will be on the leading edge of the movement."