We had an opportunity to pose some questions to our founding Board Member and a prominent political consultant in the Republican party, Matt Rhoades.
Mr. Rhoades currently serves as Co-CEO of CGCN Group, an integrated advocacy and strategic communications firm that specializes in helping corporations, nonprofits and trade associations navigate complex legislative and regulatory issues.
Mr. Rhoades gained prominence working at the highest levels of political organizations and campaigns. As campaign manager for Governor Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, he successfully guided Governor Romney’s campaign to victory through a crowded field of candidates in the Republican presidential primary.
DDC: When did you first become aware of the importance of cybersecurity for campaigns?
Matt: In 2011, when I was managing Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. We discovered that our campaign had been hacked by the Chinese government during the primaries, and cybersecurity became a very real issue, very quickly. Unfortunately, this forced us to use precious campaign dollars on higher levels of network security rather than on winning votes.
DDC: Defending Digital Campaigns was created after an initiative you participated in at the Belfer Center at Harvard creating cybersecurity playbooks for campaigns and election officials. What are some key takeaways from that effort?
Matt: The political climate was hyper-partisan after the 2016 election, and my experience at the Belfer Center helped elevate a serious issue in a non-partisan way. Cyber-attacks are a threat that does not discriminate between parties – Democrats and Republicans need to work together to solve this problem and defend America’s campaigns.
DDC: What led to the creation of DDC?
Matt: Robby Mook, Debbie Plunkett and my experience at Harvard played a big role in catalyzing the creation of DDC. We realized that our work could continue, and really make a difference if we created an independent, bipartisan organization that both Democrats and Republicans could get behind.
DDC: The campaign world is adversarial. Yet, there is strong agreement that providing cybersecurity needs to be done in a bipartisan, nonaligned manner. Why is that so important?
Matt: After the 2016 elections, the focus was exclusively on Russia. This attention was warranted, but it left us blind to possibly even more serious threats in China, Iran, North Korea, and even here domestically. We’ve learned that cybersecurity threats can come from anywhere, and anyone can be a target. Nation states and domestic hackers don’t care if you’re a liberal or conservative – they care about creating chaos and discord in our country. That’s the type of problem Americans can only solve if it’s united.
DDC: Why is it important to offer cybersecurity services to campaigns for free or at a low-cost?
Matt: Good campaigns are cheap – they can’t afford to be worried about paying for cybersecurity software. I ran a presidential campaign and even we couldn’t afford that additional expense. How can local campaigns be expected to? All that campaigns should be focused on is winning votes, and offering these services for free or at a low cost allows that.
DDC: It's undeniable that campaigns will look different this year due to COVID-19. Any advice about how campaigns should operate in this new environment?
Matt: Campaigns are always forced to make changes, and good campaigns always adapt to the environment they exist in. Be smart, make changes quickly, and don’t be scared.
If you are part of a US House, Senate or Presidential Campaign your campaign might be eligible for Defending Digital Campaigns free or reduced-priced cybersecurity products or services. Email: info@defendcampaigns.org