ASOP Workshop: Protect Yourself and Your Campaign from Cyberattacks and AI Risk

ASOP Workshop: Protect Yourself and Your Campaign from Cyberattacks and AI Risk

Protect Yourself and Your Campaign from Cyberattacks and AI Risk

Secure Your Campaign Before Someone Targets It

Political campaigns are attractive targets for cybercriminals, state-sponsored actors, and hacktivists. Campaigns handle sensitive information, operate under intense time pressure, rely on rapidly changing teams, and often lack the cybersecurity resources available to larger organizations.

At the same time, campaigns are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence tools for research, communications, fundraising, data analysis, and campaign operations. These technologies can provide significant advantages, but using them without appropriate safeguards can expose campaigns to new security, privacy, and reputational risks.

Join Michael Kaiser, President and CEO of Defending Digital Campaigns (DDC), and Betty Fleming, Director of Onboarding at DDC, for an hour-long online workshop focused on practical steps campaigns can take to improve their cybersecurity and use AI more safely.

Through presentations, demonstrations, and real-world examples, participants will learn how to strengthen campaign security, reduce common vulnerabilities, and establish basic protections before an incident occurs.

What You'll Learn

• The most common cybersecurity threats facing political campaigns and organizations
• How cybercriminals, state-sponsored actors, and hacktivists may target campaigns
• The three core cybersecurity protections every campaign should implement
• How campaigns may be able to access essential cybersecurity tools and protections at little or no cost
• How to strengthen account security and reduce the risk of unauthorized access
• Practical steps staff, candidates, and volunteers can take to protect campaign information
• How artificial intelligence is being used in modern campaign operations
• The security, privacy, and operational risks campaigns should consider when using AI tools
• How to develop a thoughtful and secure approach to adopting AI
• Additional steps campaigns can take to improve their overall cybersecurity posture
• Participants will also have an opportunity to ask questions about cybersecurity challenges facing their campaigns and organizations.

Who Should Attend

• Candidates and prospective candidates
• Campaign managers and political directors
• Communications staff and press secretaries
• Digital and technology staff
• Campaign operations and data professionals
• Political consultants and campaign strategists
• County, state, and local party leaders
• Conservative nonprofit and advocacy professionals who work with campaigns or political organizations
• Anyone responsible for protecting campaign accounts, information, or technology

Why It Matters

Campaigns are high-profile organizations that possess information attackers may want to steal, expose, manipulate, or disrupt.

A compromised email account, stolen password, successful phishing attack, or improperly used technology platform can quickly become more than an IT problem. It can interrupt campaign operations, expose confidential information, create reputational damage, and distract the campaign at a critical moment.

The growing use of artificial intelligence adds another consideration. Campaigns need to understand not only how AI can improve their work, but also what information should—or should not—be shared with AI platforms and how these tools can be incorporated responsibly into campaign operations.

Cybersecurity does not have to be complicated or expensive. Establishing a few essential protections and creating good security habits can significantly reduce a campaign’s exposure to common threats.

Whether you are running for office, managing a campaign, overseeing communications, working with campaign technology, or supporting political organizations, this workshop will give you practical steps you can take to protect yourself, your team, and your campaign before a cybersecurity problem becomes a campaign crisis.

About the Advanced School of Politics

The Advanced School of Politics at the Leadership Institute (LI) develops high-caliber conservative leaders through comprehensive political education courses covering campaign management, political strategy, communications, fundraising, and nonprofit operations.

The Advanced School of Politics offers a suite of six expansive, multi-day courses, each led by seasoned professionals with decades of experience in their respective fields:

Campaign Leadership College (CLC): This nine-day program is LI's most ambitious educational endeavor to date. Its purpose is to forge campaign managers capable of steering high-stakes political campaigns.

Candidate Development School (CDS): The esteemed CDS is a three-day intensive course designed for current and prospective political candidates. Its goal is to provide a foundation for a successful electoral pursuit and public service career.

Candidate Management School (CMS): Modeled after the CLC but with a narrower focus and shorter duration, the four-day CMS is engineered for campaign managers intent on securing electoral victories.

Campaign Fundraising School (CFS): Over a four-day period, the CFS prepares participants with the acumen to secure significant financial support essential for winning campaigns.

Comprehensive Fundraising Training (CFT): Tailored for professionals in the nonprofit sector, this three-day course is designed to augment fundraising capabilities for conservative NGOs and nonprofits.

Conservative Organizational Entrepreneur (COE): This four-day course is designed to teach participants the legal intricacies of establishing an organization, devising a fiscal plan, fundraising for startup operations, and strategizing for long-term organizational sustainability.

Located in Arlington, Virginia, the Advanced School of Politics is conveniently accessible via Metro and close to Reagan National Airport.

For an up-to-date schedule of ASOP courses, visit LearnToWin.org

ABOUT | LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE

The Leadership Institute’s (LI) mission is to increase the number and effectiveness of conservative activists and leaders in the public policy process. The Institute identifies, recruits, trains, and places conservatives in government, politics, and the media. [More]