Digital Security Articles & Newsletters

This short module opens with a short introduction to malware with a video, followed by slides with a few examples of malware targeting journalists, and finally, opening up to a discussion of how students understand the likelihood of this happening in their work, and what they should do in response. …

This section is intended to quickly introduce chat safety considerations through some examples of tip channels currently supported by newsrooms, followed by discussion time, and finally, hands-on installation of the Signal app. Students may need time to troubleshoot, so we encourage pairing students, and being prepared to help students if …

Because the behavior of telecommunications networks and the internet is so foundational to realistic threat modeling, this section should be used before any subsequent discussion of chat tools designed to protect network-level communication like Signal, or tools that encrypt and tunnel traffic, such as VPNs, or Tor. This section opens …

Note that you will not use this module if you are not conducting an extended course on this topic.This (optional) conversation may be used to introduce the broader course. It will begin by examining the importance of the topic, additional prompting about what topics are covered, and will include …

This module will not provide an exhaustive look at this topic, but will instead provide the starting point for students to know how to investigate their digital security questions as needed.This lecture and activities will briefly introduce several foundational topics on digital security, including the basics of risk assessment, …

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At the close of 2019 in Wuhan, China, local doctor Li Wenliang began to notice an uptick in patients experiencing flu-like symptoms, many reportedly feeling ill after visiting the Huanan seafood market. Concerned about the possibility of a SARS-like outbreak, he shared his observations with his medical school alumni group …

Freedom of the Press Foundation recently released a report detailing a record number of arrests throughout 2020 based on comprehensive data gathered by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a project in collaboration with the Committee to Protect Journalists.Harlo Holmes, Olivia Martin, David …

The environment in the U.S. surrounding digital security threats to journalists is evolving. What should journalists do to better protect themselves, sources, and colleagues from escalating digital security threats?

While there is now little evidence of U.S. election malfeasance, there's still so much more we can do.

How journalists can safely make the most of their confidential tip pages.

Learn about the security, privacy, and anti-abuse measures of the BigBlueButton video chat platform.

BitLocker To Go is part of the larger BitLocker suite of encryption tools available in Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education. Unfortunately, it is not available on Windows 11 Home edition, which is the version most Windows computers ship with. However, it is possible to pay for an upgrade to a version that does support it, like Windows 11 Pro. Although BitLocker itself can be used to encrypt your computer’s entire hard drive, you can also use the BitLocker To Go feature to encrypt separate external drives with a strong passphrase, which we’ll cover in this guide.

It's time to rethink your privacy on Slack.

Freedom of the Press Foundation's Digital Security Training intern speaks to the experience of deploying Signal in his student newsroom.

Learn about how to tighten your home Wi-Fi router's security settings.

Learn about the security, privacy, and anti-abuse measures of the Microsoft Teams video chat platform.

Learn about the security, privacy, and anti-abuse measures of the Slack video chat platform.

Learn how to blur faces in photos with Signal, the encrypted messaging app.

Photos and how we share them can present risks to the people and sensitive information that’s been captured in the process. In this guide, we discuss how to safely redact them

Something exciting is happening at Signal: Through novel encryption techniques and architecture, we may be moving away from phone numbers as user IDs.

We outline some of the questions we think about when critically assessing video conferencing tools, and how journalists can determine what’s right for them.

Learn about the security, privacy, and anti-abuse measures of the Whereby video chat platform.

Learn about the security, privacy, and anti-abuse measures of the Google Meet video chat platform.