Encrypting email with Mailvelope
This guide is an overhaul of a previous piece, entitled "Encrypting email with Mailvelope: A beginner's guide."
Newsrooms, let’s talk about Google Workspace
If you work in a newsroom, there’s a good chance you work with colleagues on Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, and more. Google Workspace software is simple and powerful. But anyone working in a newsroom has probably asked themselves: What can Google see? What about our most sensitive conversations and documents? What about documents that concern our own unreleased reporting, or information on our sources?
An in-depth guide to choosing a web browser
An ever increasing amount of traffic flows through our devices, turning web browsers from our primary gateway to the web into our primary gateway to the rest of the world.In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic Google Chrome delayed expected browser updates, as employees quickly transitioned to …
Pretty great privacy with PGP smart cards
This guide is intended for readers familiar with using PGP who want to take an extra step in fortifying the security around their private key. Some of these steps also utilize a command-line interface, and it may be helpful to get comfortable with that interface before diving in. For a …
Digital security training course catalog
The Digital Security Training track currently offers a variety of courses covering the most salient and pressing issues facing journalists and technology in the current day. FPF offers courses in 90-minute, 3-hour, and full-day formats; in order to accommodate organizations requiring for more flexibility in scheduling. Some courses include hands-on …
Your smartphone and you: A handbook to modern mobile maintenance
They are tethered to wireless networks, and we are tethered to them. We spend so much time with smartphones, yet most of us devote little of it contemplating our small computers. We often treat these valuable devices more like everyday household items, as opposed to curated archives of our lives. …
Your password was breached. Now what?
Data breaches, and in particular those including personal passwords for websites or apps, are evergreen news stories that repeat themselves like an Advent calendar for cybersecurity failures. Although these breaches are a regular phenomena, they are trailed by a long, drawn-out window of time where other attackers use breached data …
Proton Mail like a pro
Proton Mail is a Switzerland-based email client that offers end-to-end encryption between its users by default. This means that communication between anyone whose email is managed by Proton Mail can only be viewed by members of that party; No outside parties, including Proton Mail itself, can view the content of …
Encryption toolkit for media makers: An introduction
No matter who we are or where we work, each of us has information to keep secure and private. For media makers working in film, journalism, and the arts, data protection is essential. Audio, video, image, and text files make up the bulk of their work, and their livelihoods. The …
Encryption toolkit for media makers: Disk Utility guide
This piece is a part of a series of guides about encryption for media makers; take a look at the full collection here. We recommend you review our introduction to encryption piece for pro-tips and a technical glossary before proceeding with the step-by-step instructions below.Looking for a different tool? …
Encryption toolkit for media makers: VeraCrypt guide
This piece is a part of a series of guides about encryption for media makers; take a look at the full collection. We recommend you review our introduction to encryption piece for pro-tips and a technical glossary before proceeding with the step-by-step instructions below.VeraCrypt not the tool you're …
The first time they reach out, protect sources from themselves
Most sources don’t reach out with terribly sensitive information. But sometimes they do.
Locking down Signal
Also available in Spanish.
Verifying open source software
Verifying software should be your first priority whenever you download a new piece of software. If you are downloading software by verified individual developers or an organization like Apple or Microsoft, the verification process is handled for you. However, you may want to use software built by developers who haven’t …
An in-depth guide to choosing a VPN
A virtual private network, or VPN, is a useful tool for protecting your online activity. But figuring out which credible, secure VPN to use can be a challenge. This guide will show you what to look for when shopping for a VPN.
Everything you wanted to know about media metadata, but were afraid to ask
Metadata is the information about your files — the data about your data. It’s often hidden in files. Learn how to dig it up, or delete it entirely
Mobile security tips: How to respond to confiscation and compromise
Before heading to an event, read our piece about mobile security for activists for detailed context.
Mobile security tips: Nine steps to prepare your phone before an action
Before heading to an event, read our piece about mobile security for activists for detailed context.
What to do if your phone is seized by the police
So, you’ve been arrested covering an event. You’re taken to the police station, you’re booked, and your phone is confiscated. When you’re let out, after a few hours or even a few days, your phone is handed back to you in a plastic baggie, the SIM card and SD card …
Three types of passphrases
The first step to a healthy digital life is an easy-to-implement strategy for managing your account credentials. You’ll notice that we’re using the term “passphrases” instead of “passwords.” Do you wonder why? In short, because passwords are obsolete. They’re too short, they tend to be unimaginative, and chances are, they’re …
Phishing prevention and email hygiene
Journalists and newsrooms are increasingly the victims of hacking and malware, and hackers often target them through email. Virtually every “sophisticated” hack of an individual reporter or entire newsroom involves a relatively simple email attack: phishing and spear phishing.Phishing is a social-engineering attack where an adversary crafts an email …
