DIGITAL SECURITY Digital security is an expansive topic that we will not attempt to cover in detail here. The Tactical Technology Initiative and Front Line Defenders have together developed tools and tactics for your digital security, called Security–ina-box. It was created to meet the digital security and privacy needs of advocates and human rights defenders. The digital booklet addresses a number of important digital security issues, some of which are listed here:
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How to protect your computer from malware and hackers
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How to create and maintain secure passwords
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How to protect your information from physical threats How to protect the sensitive files on your computer How to recover from information loss How to destroy sensitive information
How to keep your internet communication private How to use smartphones as securely as possible
Security-in-a-box will take you through these issues and advise you on how to deal with them. Let us give you a few examples: Before worrying about private communication and secure passwords, keeping your computer healthy is a critical first step towards security. Security-ina-box explains more about the specific threats of malware, how you can use different tools to protect you from these, how you can keep your computer secure by updating your software frequently and why you should use free and open source (freeware) tools to avoid the dangers of expired licenses and pirated software.
If you work with sensitive information and topics and are interested in using social networking services, it is important to be very aware of the privacy and security issues that they raise. Human rights defenders are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of social networking sites and need to be extremely careful about the information they reveal about themselves and the people they work with. It is thus important that you understand how different social networking sites make you (and your contacts) vulnerable and that you can take steps to protect yourself and the people you are working with.
Digital rights and security are also a central component to security for HRDs. Awareness and understanding of your rights in digital spaces and how to protect your digital spaces and tools is critical for HRDs. Photo: Digital Rights Foundation facilitating a workshop on digital security. (Photo credit: Digital Rights Foundation)
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