Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation was officially established on the 10th of July 1990. The organization was founded to address the growing social crisis of the Information Age where laws and metaphors for protecting information were nonexistent. John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor were the primary architects who formed the initial board of directors.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation was created following a 1990 FBI raid on John Perry Barlow and a subsequent raid on Steve Jackson Games by the Secret Service. These events highlighted a critical gap in the legal system where digital communications were not protected by the same privacy laws as phone calls. The interaction with the agent and the seizure of source code for GURPS Cyberpunk became the catalyst for the formation of the organization.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation coordinated the construction of the EFF DES cracker nicknamed Deep Crack to break the Data Encryption Standard. The project cost $210,000 and successfully broke the encryption code in 56 hours on the 17th of July 1998. This effort demonstrated that the government's claims about the security of DES were false and led to the standardization of the Advanced Encryption Standard within four years.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has developed software and browser add-ons including HTTPS Everywhere and Privacy Badger to help users protect their privacy online. The organization also created the Secure Messaging Scorecard to evaluate apps and tools based on specific criteria ensuring access to secure communication tools. These initiatives promote digital literacy and privacy in an increasingly connected world.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation was founded by John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor who were joined by John Gilmore, Steve Wozniak, and Stewart Brand on the initial board of directors. The organization started in Boston at Kapor Enterprises offices before moving to Washington DC in 1993 and eventually settling in San Francisco. Initial funding came from Kapor, Wozniak, and an anonymous benefactor to allow the EFF to begin its work.