{"id":3875,"date":"2017-08-26T22:27:22","date_gmt":"2017-08-26T21:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amdf-centre.org\/?p=3875"},"modified":"2026-07-05T20:10:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T19:10:38","slug":"project-shield-offers-free-protection-for-independent-news-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amdf-centre.org\/2017\/08\/26\/project-shield-offers-free-protection-for-independent-news-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Shield offers free protection for independent news sites"},"content":{"rendered":"
Janine Warner and David LaFontaine |<\/div>\n
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This is the third part in a four-part series about journalism and cybersecurity. See part one<\/a>,\u00a0part two<\/a>\u00a0and part four<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a small, independent news publisher, the idea that the biggest internet company in the world is ready to step in and protect you from Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks \u2013 for free \u2013 may seem like an impossible dream.<\/p>\n

But the team at Project Shield wants you to wake up \u2014 and sign up \u2014 before that dream turns into a nightmare when you\u2019re attacked.<\/p>\n

Project Shield<\/a> is a free service created by Jigsaw, which is a company within Alphabet. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and Jigsaw serves as \u201can incubator that uses tech to address global security challenges in defense of free expression,\u201d said Dan Keyserling, head of communication for Jigsaw.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mission of Google is to organize the world\u2019s information,\u201d said Keyserling.\u00a0\u201cJigsaw shares those values and part of making that information accessible is making sure news stays online and someone can\u2019t take down a news site for a few dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll around the world, digital attacks are a crude from of censorship,\u201d Keyserling said, adding attacks range from \u201cfrighteningly coordinated attacks at the high end\u201d to \u201cnuisance-level attacks, which can cost as little as US$5 at the low end.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest advantage of choosing Project Shield to protect your site is that it\u2019s hard to imagine a DDoS attack that could overwhelm Google\u2019s massive infrastructure \u2013 and it\u2019s free.<\/p>\n

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If you think of DDoS protection like a bouncer that keeps unruly thugs out of your night club, then using Project Shield is like having an army of soldiers outfitted with tanks, cannons\u00a0and weapon-sniffing attack dogs to keep the peace for you.<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Let us repeat that one more time: you can get Google\u2019s internet backbone to protect your website for free. <\/strong>(Note: you must apply for this service and meet their requirements to qualify.)<\/p>\n

To sign up for Project Shield, you\u2019ll need to fill out an application<\/a> and go through their verification process. With few exceptions, if you run a news site you\u2019re likely to be approved within 24 to 48 hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cProject Shield is free to news organizations, NGOs, human rights organizations and groups that do election monitoring,\u201d said Justine Rivero, a program manager at Jigsaw who works on the Project Shield team.<\/p>\n

If you think of DDoS protection like a bouncer that keeps unruly thugs out of your night club, then using Project Shield is like having an army of soldiers outfitted with tanks, cannons, and weapon-sniffing attack dogs to keep the peace for you.<\/p>\n

Project Shield leverages Google\u2019s massive infrastructure to thwart attacks and the team at Jigsaw has developed sophisticated data-identification tools to filter out the bot-nets used to launch DDoS attacks, while still letting your legitimate news audience into your site.<\/p>\n

Setting up Project Shield is a relatively simple process that involves changing the DNS on your domain so that all the traffic to your website goes through Google\u2019s system before it gets to your front page. (You\u2019ll find detailed instructions for how to apply and setup Project Shield on the Jigsaw website<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a fair number of non-technical users,\u201d Rivero explained, noting that in addition to the relatively small team that runs Project Shield, there is a growing community of Project Shield users<\/a> who help each other (you have to apply, and be approved, to join the community because they don\u2019t want the Bad Guys sneaking in and spying on you).<\/p>\n

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The best way to protect yourself against a DDoS attack is to sign up for Project Shield before someone tries to take your site down, but the team at Jigsaw will try to help you even if you\u2019re in the midst of an attack when you sign up.<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cOnce you\u2019ve set up your domain name, all the traffic to our website goes through Project Shield before reaching your web server,\u201d Rivero said. \u201cProject Shield determines if it\u2019s legitimate traffic, and if it\u2019s not, we don\u2019t let it pass on to your server, or we serve them a cached version of your site.\u201d<\/p>\n

Note: Project Shield does not actually host your website. You\u2019ll still need to pay your web service for hosting, but the service can help protect you from spikes in fees if you get attacked.<\/p>\n

For very high-risk sites, or those who are hit with especially powerful attacks, they offer a second level of service with custom DDoS protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re concerned that diverting your traffic to Google could slow your site down, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that the way Project Shield uses caching to shield sites from attacks actually helps some sites perform faster, especially small to medium-sized sites,\u201d Rivero said.<\/p>\n

Project Shield\u2019s caching process involves storing a copy of your pages on Google\u2019s servers, and in some cases this process can cause conflicts. However, turning off your own caching system, or changing to a different service usually solves any conflicts. The team at Jigsaw is also working on a new feature that will enable users to clear the cache themselves when they use Project Shield. (This was one of the most frequently requested features at the time of this interview in June 2017.)<\/p>\n

It also helps to be proactive. The best way to protect yourself against a DDoS attack is to sign up for Project Shield before someone tries to take your site down, but the team at Jigsaw will try to help you even if you\u2019re in the midst of an attack when you sign up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not uncommon for people to contact us in the midst of an attack,\u201d Keyserling said. \u201cIt\u2019s never too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

Janine Warner is the founder and executive director of\u00a0SembraMedia<\/a>,\u00a0<\/a>an organization dedicated to\u00a0improving the quality of news content available in Spanish.\u00a0<\/a>She is an expert at helping digital media entrepreneurs implement sustainable business practices and generate new sources of revenue online. Learn more about her work as an ICFJ Knight Fellow\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n