CAMPAIGN SECURITY CASE STUDY
CAMPAIGN SECURITY CASE STUDY
Annie Bourke
AZ-Coordinated Campaign
Annie is a software developer with a background in finance, specifically in the foreign exchange markets. Before DigiDems, Annie worked at First Republican Bank where she helped clients analyze the FX markets and buy/sell foreign currency at the right times. An avid reader, Annie loves a good series and is always happy to hear others’ book recommendations. While at DigiDems, Annie was assigned to the Arizona Coordinated Campaign where she focused on building and implementing cybersecurity infrastructure across the state.
The Need
When Annie joined the Arizona Coordinated Campaign in June 2020, she knew that cybersecurity onboarding for new campaign hires would be a primary function of her responsibilities. Because COVID-19 moved many operations online and therefore required more staffers to be working remotely, Annie and her supervisor also anticipated the need for a system that could potentially automate cybersecurity onboardings.
The Solution
Alongside the campaign’s Deputy Operations Director, Annie came up with the idea of using a custom Google Form to automate cybersecurity onboardings across the campaign apparatus. After some fine-tuning, the process came to look something like this: every week Annie would host one or two Zoom meetings for cybersecurity orientation. Any new staff would attend and listen to a 20-minute Powerpoint presentation on cybersecurity for campaigns. Following the presentation, Annie would share the link to the Google Form in the Zoom chat. Each new staffer would then leave the Zoom call to complete the Form. Annie remained in the Zoom room so people could re-join to ask her questions about any part of the form. Once they completed the form, Annie would review their answers and reach out whenever a response warranted a one-on-one check-in.
The Outcome
The cybersecurity onboarding process Annie set in place was a success and served as a great introduction to cybersecurity. It also made sure staffers knew who to contact for anything tech or cybersecurity-related. In total, Annie’s changes accounted for more than 400 cybersecurity onboardings by the end of the cycle.
