M3AAWG continues to celebrate two decades of progress by spotlighting the pioneers of our organization who have selflessly worked to advance our mission of combating online abuse.

This month, we’re excited to profile Janet Jones, Co-Chair of the Data & Identity Protection and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belongingness Committees, and our former Board of Directors Chairperson. She remains a dedicated M3AAWG pioneer who has continued to shape our organization's mission while working tirelessly to combat increasingly challenging forms of online abuse and emerging threats.

Before being named our organization’s first female chairperson, Janet served as board vice chair from 2017 to 2020 and then as board co-chair in 2021. While serving in positions of leadership at M3AAWG, she has contributed her time, energy, experience, and passion to our committees, Special Interest Groups (SIG), and Initiatives, creating an invaluable impact on the organization’s roadmap and goals.

1. How long have you been with M3AAWG?

I have been a member since 2014. During that time, I was proud and honored to be involved with many of this organization’s successes. This includes championing the initial Birds of a Feather (BoF) session that led to the creation of the Anti-Pervasive Monitoring SIG. This work aimed to address the issues raised by the post-Edward Snowden disclosures and to secure email in transit. I also served as Co-chair for this SIG. Additionally, I championed the expansion of the charter for the Anti-Pervasive Monitoring SIG to create the Data and Identity Protection Committee.

I am also proud of developing our Diversity & Inclusion strategic direction. This involved driving board-level adoption and commitment to the strategy, as well as integrating it into our culture. Furthermore, I recently helped expand the scope to include Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB).

2. What inspired you to engage and contribute to M3AAWG?

Looking back at the timeline of the aftermath of the Edward Snowden disclosures, that period was when I was originally inspired to join. I was energized to help shape our work around fighting against surveillance and pervasive monitoring.

3. What would you say M3AAWG’s most important contribution to the industry has been over the past 20 years?

In the post-Eward Snowden disclosures environment, M3AAWG pushed for industry to adopt stronger security, in particular, the implementation of stronger TLS (1.2), and helped promote the importance of using strong encryption. (These efforts stemmed from the work of the Anti-Pervasive Monitoring SIG.) Upon launching this campaign, protection for messaging in transit saw significant improvement within just a few months.  As Facebook Messaging Integrity Engineer and M3AAWG Co-Vice Chairperson Mike Adkins reported, there was massive growth in SMTP STARTTLS deployment around late spring and summer 2014, as large providers made progress to deploy opportunistic TLS.

4. What would you consider to be the biggest change in M3AAWG from its early days to now?

The online abuse landscape has expanded significantly since M3AAWG's origin. With the rapid emergence of new threats and technologies, there is a greater need to "circle the wagons" now more than ever among those of us on the right side of this fight. Additionally, we must further broaden our overall scope globally as abuse threats become more and more sophisticated.

5. What would you consider the most significant challenge M3AAWG has faced in its 20-year history?

It’s no secret that the COVID pandemic presented many challenges across the globe. M3AAWG’s core foundation is built on an interactive, trusted forum for discussing and working through tough challenges, including the invaluable discussions that take place during in-person meetings.

M3AAWG did an amazing job during COVID by providing interactive opportunities for all of us to continue our work to the best of our abilities during this tough time, although it still could not compare to direct face-to-face interaction.

The transition back to in-person meetings was seamless, and many improvements were made to welcome members back with a renewed focus and energy to continue the fight against online abuse. I feel strong gratitude towards being a part of such an amazing community of experts that I call my “M3AAWG family.”

6. What is one of your best memories or proudest moments with M3AAWG?

Being elected the first female Chair of the M3AAWG Board of Directors was a significant achievement for me. I was also proud of my work in leading the update of our mission, championing a diverse and inclusive culture throughout the organization, the creation of Initiatives, and creating a global strategic framework outlining priorities and focus areas, which also included a partner engagement framework.

7.  What role has M3AAWG played in your career?

M3AAWG has been the highlight of my career both personally and professionally. Since my very first meeting, I could feel the energy and passion that the M3AAWG community brought together with each discussion, collaboration, and tough challenge presented. The passion I gained from M3AAWG to fight against online abuse has carried forward into the professional journey of my day job and beyond. It taught me the true importance (and strength) that a diverse/inclusive culture can create by embracing different perspectives and approaches.

8. What advice do you have for someone getting started in M3AAWG?

I would tell them to be inquisitive and unafraid of asking questions while seeking guidance along the way. I would also recommend that they immerse themselves in member discussions, understand M3AAWG’s priorities, focus areas, and initiatives, and never hesitate to get involved where they see fit.

9. What is your greatest fear/hope for the online security/anti-abuse industry?

Fighting against online abuse can be a thankless job that regularly goes unnoticed. The results and rewards are often invisible and take years, if not decades, to achieve. It takes a unique personality with passion and a desire to contribute to such a critical mission that goes beyond oneself. My greatest hope is that we can work with the up-and-coming generations of members to continue carrying the torch along the journey to minimizing online abuse globally.

M3AAWG pioneers like Janet Jones and her colleagues are the backbone of the organization and its impact on keeping the online world safer from its seemingly endless supply of criminals. We applaud her dedication and resilience, and we extend our heartfelt gratitude to Janet for her tremendous efforts, which have brought us closer to a future free from online abuse.

As we continue to address the monumental challenge of online abuse, we can rest a little easier knowing that Janet, alongside the network of cybercrime fighters she has helped fortify, is more dedicated and energized than ever in this effort.