Wikipedia receives $2.5 million to increase security
The Wikimedia Foundation has received $2.5 million for improving Wikipedia’s security. The money comes from Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist. The donation comes after last week’s ddos attack on Wikipedia.
With the money, Wikipedia’s security will be improved on several fronts. For example, the risk management of the site must be increased and Wikimedia hopes to reduce the response time to incidents.
It’s no surprise that Wikipedia is often the target of cyber-attacks. The website ranks tenth among the world’s most popular websites, with approximately eighteen billion views per month. According to John Bennett, director of security at Wikipedia, the site is often the target of hacking attempts, vandalism and other threats. For example, last week Wikipedia was the target of a large-scale DDOs attack, which caused the site to be offline for some time. That attack is still ongoing, even now that the website is back online.
Newmark itself says that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find accurate and reliable information on the Internet. “That’s why I will continue to support the Wikimedia Foundation and its projects, including Wikipedia, the place where facts live.” Newmark has previously donated money to Wikipedia. In 2016, for example, he donated $500,000 to the Wikimedia Foundation to help reduce vandalism on Wikipedia.
Newmark is also committed to journalistic independence and free access to information. In the past, for example, he has donated millions of dollars to journalistic initiatives, including 20 million to a journalism vocational school in New York.
Original photo by JD Lasica, CC BY 2.0. Modifications by Blanca Flores/Wikimedia Foundation, CC BY 2.0.