Last updated at Tue, 25 Jul 2017 19:46:24 GMT

You may have seen Johnny Long's candid plea for support for Hackers for Charity this week.  For those that don't know, Hackers for Charity is based in Uganda and aims “to feed and educate the world's most vulnerable citizens”, which is a very laudable mission. HFC does this through a number of activities; they offer the following list to give us a taste:

  • We've fed thousands of families through our "food for work" program.
  • We build computer labs to help students learn skills and land jobs that are key to disrupting poverty's vicious cycle.
  • We provide technical assistance to charities and non-profits that cannot afford IT services.
  • We provide job experience and references to our volunteers.

Unfortunately, despite all the great work HFC is doing, they are now at a cross roads and facing the possibility of having to pack up for good. It's down to the rest of the information security industry to make sure this doesn't happen. So, we're taking on the challenge directed at us by Gabriel Bassett ( @gdbassett on Twitter) and stepping up to do our part.

Rapid7 is pledging $5000: half the amount HFC needs to keep going for a year. We're deliberately putting in half as we're calling on other infosec players to get involved too so we can get HFC set up, not just for this year, but for a while to come. Match what we're giving, or put us in the shade, or just give whatever you can manage, but please do something, and do it soon!

According to research firm, the Ponemon Institute, U.S.companies will spend more than $130 billion on cybersecurity this year alone. It should not be hard then to find a few thousand to keep Hackers for Charity doing their great work for a long time to come.

If you think this is a good cause, please help us get others involved.  Tweet the title of this post around to get the word out, and take a leaf out of Gabriel's book and address the tweet to anyone you think should be contributing.

Good luck Hackers for Charity!  We hope you will be able to continue your great work for many years to come.

-MJC