Especially for the orgs based in repressive countries, sophisticated and targeted attacks are common. No org with sufficient visibility can afford to host their sites on shared hosting environments due to these issues. We're denied the space, companies ask us to look elsewhere.
-
-
Show this thread
-
So we need to invest heavily in our own dedicated servers, monitoring services, additional security, audits, and so on - costs that most donors claim is "unjustified" because they are completely unaware of the serious nature of these (sometimes daily) threats.
Show this thread -
In the last year alone, our sites have suffered major attacks that some of the most skilled dev ops teams (including staff of reputable hosting providers) couldn't grasp. It was incredibly costly to bring our sites back up.
Show this thread -
These attacks had origins anywhere from Turkey to Saudi to Qatar. So many regimes invest billions in surveillance and ongoing censorship, and we aren't helping orgs tackle it effectively because we're too busy talking about "training" and needlessly lavish conferences.
Show this thread -
It's utterly painful to witness just how wasteful our field is when so much of that time and money can be used to solve major technical challenges that is hindering the whole movement's growth and urgent need for progress.
Show this thread -
We are making it incredibly easy for these governments to catch up to us, to shut us down one by one, to ensure we run out of fuel, because they know of this huge vulnerability that we can't match their own resources. And they're winning, fast.
Show this thread -
This is the result of not taking technical costs seriously and ignoring actual needs.
Show this thread -
Yes, orgs have to be sustainable, but it starts with the necessary investments first. So many important projects are offline because no one wants to fund their uptime. We celebrate open source but have no way to support people's creations with such access.
Show this thread -
We tell orgs to innovate but don't give them the vital resources to do so. We ask them to secure their platforms but don't provide the funding necessary for audits, fixes, documentation, a way to implement recommendations and iterations. We prevent them from thriving.
Show this thread -
You can have all the expertise and volunteers in the world but it still doesn't pay these bills, and that makes this work isolating as fuck.
Show this thread -
In the end, it's not just about sustainability. It is difficult to plan that far ahead when you're already up against so much. It's about understanding the actual needs - and why. We only ask that you listen to the voices on the ground as to why this is so necessary.
Show this thread -
We can't keep running nonprofits like we're still in 1992. The landscape has changed. So have the obstacles. And funders aren't adapting fast enough. It's a huge mistake.
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.