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Digital Security School in Ukraine

DSS380

challenge

Dangers of the Digital World

In the modern digital world, it has become easier than ever to surveil and conduct reconnaissance on journalists and civil society activists. If users are not careful, malicious parties can gain access to their phones, emails, and messages; malware in computers, for example, can expose their passwords and login data.

“The three greatest threats in the digital world are Russia, Russia, and Russia,” Julian Reichelt, editor-in-chief of the German periodical Bild, wrote in 2016. Russian interference in US elections and in the UK’s Brexit referendum, along with large-scale cyber-attacks against Ukraine, only affirm this.

Cyberspace – alongside land, sea, air, and space – is the fifth battlefield in which wars are waged, a point that NATO’s member state ministers of defense recognized in 2016. Thus, given Russia’s hybrid war against our country, digital security skills have assumed vital importance.

solution

Trainings, Digital Audits, and Consultations

In September 2015, we opened Ukraine’s first digital security school for human rights activists, civil society activists, representatives of non-governmental organizations and the media: DSS380 (Digital Security School Ukraine). The school became a crucial link between two worlds – the technological and the humanitarian.

And in 2018, a team of digital security specialists supported five Ukrainian editorial offices with advanced consultations and audit. In the process of digital auditing, DSS380 experts identify key risks faced by staff with regard to digital threats and provided practical recommendations.

Also that year, 125 journalists and civil society leaders attended training sessions provided by the DSS380 to receive useful digital skills for protecting electronic devices, login data in e-mails, social media, and confidential online correspondence.

outcome

Knowledge and Security

Feedback from DSS380 trainings confirms the relevance and practical value of their training. One explained, “I finally understand two-factor authentication in Facebook”; another said, “I received specific tools for password management and encryption, and I installed software for secure VPN and finding my smartphone.”

DSS380 became a forum for ongoing consultations and training for civil society and the media. Future plans include providing comprehensive assistance to organizations and the mass media, increasing DSS380’s audience, launching an online course, and free training for everyone.