A design of cog as a background illustration

Building a culture of digital safety in civil society organizations.

Why digital safety matters?

If your organization is like most CSOs or independent media organizations, it is highly dependent on technology to achieve its mission and objectives. Are you aware of your risk?

On any given day, you and your colleagues:

Communicate

Communicate and share important files by email, messengers, office network or online locations, often using smartphones, tablets and USB drives

Connect

Connect with your beneficiaries, partners and funders via social media platforms, and your website

Process and Store
Data

Process and store data--often containing sensitive details about your beneficiaries and partners-- on your laptops, online drives and email inboxes

Use
Apps and Platforms

Use free or paid online services and resources to create content and products, manage funds, and track projects and performance

Each of these activities comes with vulnerabilities. We know that data can be stolen, communications can be intercepted, staff may accidentally lose laptops and phones, and that networks, email and social media accounts can be easily hacked. Any such incident can result in significant financial losses, disruption of work, harm to your organization’s reputation, and in some cases, harm or risk to your staff, beneficiaries, partners, and personal networks.

How we help

CyberSAR can help you take charge of your digital safety. For the past three years, the Cyber Safety Assessment and Response (CyberSAR) initiative has helped smaller NGOs improve their online safety through:

Organizational digital safety diagnostics

Direct technical assistance, including real-time remediation of networks and devices

Extended training and policy support