Getting cyber security, and ultimately national cyber security policy, right is a matter of uneasy partnerships. Among these emerging partnerships is with white hat hackers. These hackers do much of the research and analysis that is often legally risky and maligned, but their aims are positive. Professionalizing and growing the white hat hacker community must be a centerpiece of a national strategy. Examining the White Hat hacker community’s response to Covid-19 and abuses by the police demonstrations their importance and points to the limitations of government intervention into private cyber security policy.