The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), alongside numerous cybersecurity and election security experts, has called for an end to the Trump Administration's investigation of Christopher Krebs, former director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The open letter appeals for an immediate halt to what they describe as a politically motivated inquiry.
The letter underscores the vital role security researchers play in maintaining the security of democratic processes and government infrastructure. "By placing Krebs and SentinelOne in the crosshairs, the President is signaling that cybersecurity professionals whose findings do not align with his narrative risk having their businesses and livelihoods subjected to spurious and retaliatory targeting, the same bullying tactic he has recently used against law firms," the EFF’s letter stated. "As members of the cybersecurity profession and information security community, we counter with a strong stand in defense of our professional obligation to report truthful findings, even – and especially – when they do not fit the playbook of the powerful. And we stand with Chris Krebs for doing just that."
Christopher Krebs was appointed by President Trump as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in November 2018 and was dismissed in November 2020 following his public contradiction of Trump's false claims regarding election fraud in 2020. On April 9, a presidential memorandum directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to investigate Krebs, and ordered the revocation of security clearances held by Krebs and his associated cybersecurity entity, SentinelOne.
The EFF has urged that these directives be reversed, advocating for the protection of the independence of the information security community. “An independent infosec community is fundamental to protecting our democracy, and to the profession itself,” the letter emphasized. “It is only by allowing us to do our jobs and report truthfully on systems in an impartial and factual way without fear of political retribution that we can hope to secure those systems. We take this responsibility upon ourselves with the collective knowledge that if any one of us is targeted for our work hardening these systems, then we all can be. We must not let that happen. And united, we will not let that happen.”
In addition, EFF has backed four law firms through friend-of-the-court briefs concerning what it views as retaliatory actions by President Trump's executive orders.
The letter can be accessed for more details at https://www.eff.org/document/chris-krebs-support-letter-april-28-2025, and others are invited to sign the letter at https://eff.org/r.uq1r.