While Silicon Valley is divided, hackers give Harris campaign a $150,000 boost

LAS VEGAS — Vice President Kamala Harris wasn’t at the world’s biggest hacker conference this week, but her presidential ambitions got an unexpected boost when cybersecurity professionals and hackers — brought together by former Biden administration officials — raised more than US$200. $150,000 for your campaign at a side event.

The “Hackers for Harris” fundraiser on Thursday afternoon drew about 150 attendees to the Las Vegas Convention Center, where the DEF CON event is being held. Organizers say the amount raised exceeded the renewed goal of $150,000.

“We exceeded the amount of money we expected to make,” said Kemba Walden, former acting national cyber director at the White House under President Joe Biden and one of the main organizers of the event, told POLITICO. “But most importantly, or equally important to me, was that people here understood that Vice President Harris is not new to this space.”

The amount raised by the hackers on Thursday surpassed the total amount raised during presidential cyber and hacker fundraising campaigns centered around DEF CON. A fundraiser for then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 and a virtual fundraiser for President Joe Biden in 2020 brought in about $100,000 combined.

“[Harris has] has a long track record of not only considering safety and security and innovation at the same time, but also consulting with researchers and individuals who are in this space,” Walden said. “I wanted to make sure everyone understood that.”

The event was organized by Walden and Jake Braun, former acting deputy national director for cybersecurity. Attendees wearing “Vote for Harris” T-shirts sat in a corner of the convention center listening to comments from Walden, who encouraged them to donate and ensure that a potential future Harris administration keeps cybersecurity on the agenda as a priority fundamental. Even those who did not attend the event in person contributed from afar — a symbolic gesture of the community’s support for Harris and desire to work with a future administration on cyber policy.

“We had a lot of people who weren’t even here today but cared about the issue, who donated because they wanted to make sure it was for this event,” Braun said, although organizers declined to name names.

With less than 100 days until the election, the event signaled that the vice president may find a receptive audience among the tech-savvy crowd — a constituency that could be crucial in both building a war chest for Harris’ campaign and in political discussions on cybersecurity issues such as privacy and encryption advance. Total funds raised by the event are still being calculated, although organizers say the largest donation surpassed the $10,000 mark.

It is unclear whether there will be a similar event to raise money for former President Donald Trumpcampaign. Trump’s pick for vice president, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) has expressed serious concerns about cyber threats linked to China and has deep connections to Silicon Valley – especially through mega-donor Peter Thiel, co-founder of cyber defense and intelligence giant Palantir. Tesla CEO Elon Musk declared his support for Trump and created a political action committee intended to collect voter data.

In a show of support for Democrats on Thursday, a group of 1,200 tech workers under the banner Tech4Kamala pledged to support the vice president’s campaign, calling her an “archetypal innovator” and a “tech champion.” according to Bloomberg.

Harris is also well-versed in cyber issuesincluding making clear early in the Biden administration that it would focus on cybersecurity following the Russian-backed SolarWinds hack that compromised at least a dozen federal agencies. Harris led artificial intelligence policy for the government and, while a senator, pushed for legislation to protect elections from cyber threats. This included pushing for a major supplier of electronic voting machines to increase the cybersecurity of its products after DEF CON attendees discovered vulnerabilities.

DEF CON draws crowds of the world’s elite hackers, but in many ways it’s also a very casual event. T-shirts, flip-flops and dyed hair are common at the event, and some attendees wear everything from tutus to special buttons and badges. There is even a contingent of participants who dress up as furries.

“It’s a very diverse group of people, but it’s also a group of people who are almost obsessed with things like transparency and freedom,” Braun said of the hacker community. “Also equality and welcoming everyone… and I think that this welcoming way of thinking about humanity tends to lean a little towards the Democratic side, towards the progressive side.”

Since launching her campaign after President Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, the vice president has ridden a wave of enthusiasm from donors. The Biden-then-Harris ticket racked up US$310 million in July alone — more than doubling the $138.7 million raised by former President Donald Trump’s campaign in the same period.

And while supporters praise President Biden’s cybersecurity investments during his term, some in the hacker community consider Harris to be uniquely qualified for the top job, especially given her record as California’s attorney general, where she supported a set of actions to protect against cyber threats and data breaches.

“She has a level of understanding of cyber and its nuances that I don’t think any other president has had yet,” Braun said.

The success of the event highlights the growing intersection between cybersecurity and politics. One attendee even asked if Harris might consider attending DEF CON in person next year — an idea that Walden says could lead her to personalizing an invitation for next summer.

“Would I write a letter inviting her? Of course,” said Walden.