Our History

The Global Cyber Alliance was founded in 2015 by the Center for Internet Security, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and the City of London Police to prevent cybercrime before it happens. GCA has grown into a fully independent global organization. Our diverse partners, sponsors, and donors financially support our work to improve the Internet and help people and organizations be safer online. 

Board members, strategic advisors, and ambassadors are independently appointed and do not currently include any law enforcement organizations. GCA has an intellectual independence policy, a privacy policy, a diversity and inclusion statement, and complies with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Timeline of Achievements

GCA has tackled projects ranging from email security and resources for small business, to solutions for IoT and tools to secure democratic elections. Much work has been done, but there is still much more to do. Explore key milestones below.

2015
2015
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2017
2017
2018
2018
2018
2019
2019
2019
2019
2019
2019
2020
2020
2021
2021
2022
2022
2023
2023
2023
2015
2015

GCA established

The Global Cyber Alliance is founded as a nonprofit by a partnership of law enforcement and research organizations. GCA positions itself as an international, cross-sector effort dedicated to reducing cyber risk and improving our connected world.

2015
2015

Establishes HQ in New York City and London

GCA establishes headquarters across the globe in New York City and London. The City of London Police and the District Attorney of New York County are both GCA founding organizations.

2016
2016

Names Philip Reitinger President & CEO

Prior to GCA, Mr. Reitinger served as the Deputy Under Secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate and the Director of the National Cyber Security Center in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

2016
2016

Holds First SAC Meeting in NYC

GCA holds its first Strategic Advisory Committee meeting on March 18, 2016. The SAC is chaired by GCA’s three founding partners: New York County District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., City of London Police Commissioner Ian Dyson, and Chair of the Center for Internet Security John Gilligan.

2016
2016

Launches DMARC initiative

DMARC stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance. It is the trusted, free solution that brings together email authentication protocols and adds reporting and compliance. In June 2016, the UK government mandated that all UK government departments adopt DMARC.

2016
2016

Builds Quad9

GCA collaborates with IBM and Packet Clearing House (PCH) to build Quad9, a DNS security service. Quad9 protects users from accessing known malicious websites, leveraging threat intelligence from multiple industry leaders.

2016
2016

Hires UK Executive Director

GCA hires its first Executive Director for the UK.

2017
2017

US Government Adopts DMARC

In October 2017, the US Department of Homeland Security issues Binding Operational Directive 18-01, which requires the adoption of DMARC by federal civilian domains, in part influenced by GCA’s advocacy efforts.

2017
2017

Launches Quad9

November 2017, GCA launches Quad9 to industry praise. Currently, Quad9 blocks an average of more than 60 million threats per day for users in more than 90 countries.

2018
2018

Publishes Economic Benefits of DMARC

DMARC is recognized internationally as an important email security standard. Because of GCA’s efforts, more than 12,400 organizations across more than 200 countries have adopted DMARC, resulting in significant financial benefits across a diverse array of industries and governments.

2018
2018

Releases McScrapy

WordPress and other popular content management platforms present significant risk. GCA develops McScrapy to evaluate a website and render it into simple form, keeping as much functionality as possible, while removing potential vulnerabilities.

2018
2018

Creates DMARC Leaderboard

GCA establishes the DMARC Leaderboard, an online resource that lists more than 4,000,000 domains from organizations around the globe, across multiple sectors. The leaderboard provides information about DMARC and SPF in various formats.

2019
2019

Combines $3M funding from Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Mastercard, CIS, and Others

GCA announces generous combined funding from its dedicated partners. GCA partners span across the private and public sectors and nonprofit community.

2019
2019

Develops GCA Cybersecurity Toolkits

GCA launches the Cybersecurity Toolkit for Small Business and the Cybersecurity Toolkit for Elections. The toolkits are an online resource that includes a wealth of free and effective tools organizations can start using right now to make an immediate impact on reducing cyber risk.

2019
2019

Establishes European HQ in Belgium

GCA expands its team and opens headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. This is the third GCA headquarters established and the second in Europe.

2019
2019

Publishes Economic Value of Protective DNS

GCA publishes a report investigating a control the team calls protective DNS (also known as a “DNS firewall”) — a DNS service that will process a request as normal but prevents the domain translation from occurring for any domains that are deemed malicious. This research quantifies the loss avoidance attributable to DNS firewalls.

2019
2019

Launches AIDE

GCA launches AIDE. The Automated IoT Defence Ecosystem (AIDE) enables automated collection, analysis, distribution, and display of attacks on IoT devices and a means to implement distributed defense of these devices including in small office or manufacturing and home environments.

2019
2019

Establishes Regional Executive Director Positions for the Organization

GCA broadens its global presence with the establishment of regional directorates to enhance its presence and partner relations in the Americas, UK, India & Middle East, Europe & Africa, and the Asia Pacific.

2020
2020

Establishes the Work From Home Campaign

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and sudden requirement for businesses to move to a remote workforce, GCA creates the Work From Home Campaign and leads the creation of a coalition of more than 20 nonprofits to put together an online resource that includes simple instructions and tools that businesses and their employees can implement to protect themselves.

2020
2020

Launches Cybersecurity Toolkit for Journalists

GCA launches the Cybersecurity Toolkit for Journalists, a free resource helping independent journalists, watchdogs, and small newsrooms protect their sources and reputation.

2021
2021

Launches Cybersecurity Toolkit for Small Business in Bahasa

GCA further demonstrates its global reach by translating the GCA Cybersecurity Toolkit for Small Business into Bahasa, helping small business in Indonesia and South Asia enhance their cybersecurity.

2021
2021

Launches Domain Trust

Domain Trust is an intelligence platform that provides registries, registrars, and cyber protection agencies high quality, large-scale sets of data on suspected malicious and criminal domains, providing them with the intelligence upon which they can take further action: investigation, suspension, or disablement.

2022
2022

Launches Cybersecurity Toolkit for Mission-Based Organizations

GCA partners with Public Interest Registry, creating a toolkit to address the needs of the mission-based community.

2022
2022

Launches Cybersecurity Toolkit for Individuals

The Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) partnered with Craig Newmark Philanthropies to develop the Cybersecurity Toolkit for Individuals to create a proactive cyber-defense culture to protect Internet users from cybercrime and cyber-enabled fraud.

2023
2023

Launches Portuguese Small Business Toolkit

GCA increases its global impact by translating the GCA Cybersecurity Toolkit for Small Business into Portuguese, expanding accessibility for businesses and individuals, wherever they are.

2023
2023

Launches ACT: Actionable Cybersecurity Tools

Actionable Cybersecurity Tools (ACT), an initiative by the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) in partnership with Cyber Civil Defense (CCD) stakeholders, will empower individuals and underserved communities to find the right cybersecurity solutions for their protection needs.

2023
2023

Achieving Greater Heights for MANRS

GCA takes on the secretariat and operations of MANRS through a partnership with the Internet Society.

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The Global Cyber Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the Internet a safer place by reducing cyber risk. We build programs, tools, and partnerships to sustain a trustworthy Internet to enable social and economic progress for all. GCA is a 501(c)(3) in the U.S. and a nonprofit in the U.K. and Belgium.

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