We are pleased to announce that Craig Newmark Philanthropies has renewed its support for the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) with a $100,000 grant for 2026.
This marks the fourth consecutive year of support from craigslist founder Craig Newmark. As a pioneer in the "Cyber Civil Defense" movement and a former programmer himself, Craig has long understood that memory safety vulnerabilities are an avoidable but critical threat to cybersecurity. His early and consistent support has allowed ISRG's Prossimo project to move from research and development to real-world deployments.
Delivering on the Promise of Memory Safety
When we first announced Craig's support in 2023, we were focused on building the tools. In 2024/25, we were refining them. In 2026, we are seeing them deployed at scale:
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sudo: Our memory-safe implementation became the default in Ubuntu in late 2025, improving security for millions of users.
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Rustls: We continue to work with organizations that have added Rustls to their roadmap and we are seeking input from potential adopters.
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Hickory DNS: As the world's first open-source, memory-safe, fully recursive DNS resolver, Hickory is on track for production use by mid-2026 in the Let's Encrypt infrastructure.
The Value of Long-Term Advocacy
We are grateful for Craig's continued trust as we build more resilient digital systems. This support allows our team to focus on the technical work that makes the internet fundamentally safer for everyone. We hope Craig's leadership will inspire others to consider how they can leave a legacy of making a better internet for everyone.
As we look ahead to 2026, we are proud to continue this work alongside those who understand the importance of protecting the internet. We are grateful for Craig's continued trust in our mission.