Video - The Security in a Box Toolkit: Training Human Rights Defenders in Digital Security

Watch the full interview below with Wojciech Bogusz, the Information Systems Coordinator of Frontline Defenders, who has developed the “security in-a-box” toolkit.

The development of blogging and online journalism means that digital security has become a key issue for human rights defenders, activists and journalists who work in difficult environment.

Taking the magnitude of this issue, the organisations Frontline Defenders and Tactical Technology Collective have been organising trainings and have created an online training kit that addresses the issue of mobile phone security, safe internet browsing, passwords, safe social networking, and securing emails, providing examples on ways to keep all this information safe.

“We try to help human right defenders to communicate in a safe way, to protect their content and communication, helping them to go around censorship,” explained Wojciech Bogusz, the Information Systems Coordinator of Frontline Defender, who has developed the “security in-a-box” toolkit that he presented on the sidelines of the EIDHR forum in 2013.

The on-line toolkit includes both general information on how to protect data and free softwares that help encrypt and delete data.

Mr Bogusz who regularly organizes trainings said the main challenges are to go around “technophobia” that some people have developed and to get them to change their computer-related habits.

“People usually learn quickly how easy it is to browse the internet and use their mobile phone safely, but still they tend to go back to old habit,” Mr Bogusz said.

“It is visible immediately when you are attacked because your website is down, but when it comes to protection, this is quite abstract.It is therefore very hard to motivate people,” he said.

His organisation usually organizes a training of 15 people at a time that is complemented by weeks of on-line follow-up to make sure old habits are changed, he explained.

For more information, please visit the Frontline Defenders website.