Protecting democracy means democratizing cybersecurity. Bring on the hackers

Opinion The hacker mind is a curious way to be. To have it means to embody endless analytical curiosity, an awareness of any given rule set as just one system among many, and an ability to see any system in ways that its creators never expected. Combine this with a drive to find the bad and make things better, and you become one of the fundamental forces of the technological universe.

When you also see crime, politics, and power in the same light as rule sets and systems that can go wrong, and can be made better outside the limits they set, then anything is possible. Take this interview with Jake Braun, a digital activist. For years, he has been applying the hacker mind in the service of lawfulness, democracy, freedom, science, and human rights, creating projects, teams, and organizations in their defense. The landscape here of late has been ...