Protecting democracy means democratizing cybersecurity. Bring on the hackers

This opinion piece contends that the hacker mindset—analytical curiosity and system-thinking—should be directed toward democratizing high-quality cybersecurity tools and building local expertise so communities can resist censorship, surveillance, and authoritarian disruption; it argues for packaging complex analytics into convenient, deployable solutions (a “Kali for the rest of us”) to empower individuals and reduce reliance on distant supply chains.