Civic Tech Field Guide
Sharing knowledge and productively growing the fieldAdjacent Fields > Digital security and privacy > Cybersecurity - (73)
Preventing hacks, cyberattacks, leaks, and otherwise protecting civic tech projects and data
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You can install Dangerzone on your Mac, Windows, or Linux computer, and then use it to open a variety of types of documents: PDFs, Microsoft Office or LibreOffice documents, or images. Even if the original document is dangerous and would normally hack your computer, Dangerzone will convert it into a safe PDF that you can open and read.
Microsoft AccountGuard
Redmond, WAMicrosoft AccountGuard is a cybersecurity service that adds an extra layer of protection to the high-risk, highly-targeted organizations that underpin a healthy democracy, including those in the political, elections, journalism, thinktank, human rights and nonprofit sectors.
Lockdown Mode is an optional, extreme protection that’s designed for the very few individuals who, because of who they are or what they do, might be personally targeted by some of the most sophisticated digital threats. Most people are never targeted by attacks of this nature.
Election Cyber Readiness Network
Arlington, VAIFES’s Election Cyber Readiness Network (ECRN) is designed to bring together key technology partners, election commissions, and other stakeholders to form regional and national strategies to protect elections from digital threats and support long-term electoral integrity.
Promoting research & capacity building on digital rights in Africa
A publicação visa colaborar na construção de estratégias de proteção, fomentando oficinas coletivas com defensoras e defensores de direitos humanos (DDHs), movimentos sociais e organizações da sociedade civil.
Digital Safetea
Kampala, UgandaAn interactive game presenting scenarios to learn about existing and emerging digital safety issues
Cyber Defense Assistance Collaborative (CDAC)
Arlington, VAThe Cyber Defense Assistance Collaborative (CDAC) is a group of leading cybersecurity companies, former U.S. government officials, and top U.S. cyber defense leaders who came together to provide operational cyber defense assistance to Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion.
OTF’s Secure Usability and Accessibility Lab offers secure usability and user-interface assistance to Internet freedom and digital security tools to help them recognise and solve usability challenges that hampered the adoption of those tools in repressive contexts.
Hâck The Hague
The Hague, NetherlandsThe municipality has been organising the Hâck The Hague hacking competition since 2017. During Hâck The Hague ethical hackers try to penetrate the municipality's computer systems. This is how they test the digital security of The Hague.
In an increasingly dangerous world, there’s one simple thing every messaging platform must do right now: make our messages safe using end-to-end encryption.
Free service to create a personal VPN on your server. Helps to access blocked content without revealing privacy even to VPN providers.
Website that shows you all the information other websites can glean when you visit them
Secure the Future of Mobility
Cybersecurity Handbook for Civil Society Organizations
Washington, DCA guide for civil society organizations looking to get started on a cybersecurity plan
Have a secret that you want to share? Why not hide it in a picture?
People can request digital security help using their everyday messaging apps. We provide secure Signal, Whatsapp & Telegram channels for your community.
Risk Assessments Made Beautiful! A framework and methodology to holistically assess an organization’s digital health, highlight areas of excellence, and provide a visual roadmap of recommended improvements.
Disinformation is threatening our ability to get credible facts. Built on our trusted technology stack, Waterbear helps you fight back.
Save (Share Archive Verify Encrypt) by OpenArchive enables you to safely preserve, organize, and share your mobile media. Designed with and for newsrooms, human rights defenders, and archivists, Save keeps you in control of your mobile media at all times.
Turn your photos and videos into secure, signed visual evidence
privacy filters for shared location links
MetaCert tells you which links are safe and which websites you can trust.
an easy-to-use digital safety checklist
NYU Tandon Cybersecurity for Democracy
New York University, New York, NY, USACybersecurity for Democracy is a research-based effort to expose online threats to our social fabric – and recommend how to counter them. We are part of the Center for Cybersecurity at NYU.
Defending Digital Campaigns makes our political process more secure by providing political parties and campaigns with knowledge, products and services to defend themselves from cyber threats and attacks.
Tor Browser for Android Experience real private browsing without tracking, surveillance, or censorship.
A privacy-focused web browser for use with Orbot, based on Tor Browser
KivuHub
Ave LumumbaKivuHub is a community hub of entrepreneurs, developers, business and startups with the right technological skills and business.
A short guide to help keep journalists and their sources safe
1Password for democracy
Ontario, CanadaFree 1Password accounts for people working on behalf of democracy
The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto
Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Devonshire Place, Toronto, ON, CanadaThe Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto, focusing on research, development, and high-level strategic policy and legal engagement at the intersection of information and communication technologies, human rights, and global security.
Cloudflare for Campaigns
101 Townsend St San Francisco, CA 94107It is designed to make it easier for all political campaigns and parties, especially those with small teams and limited resources, to get access to cybersecurity services.
SecureDrop is an open-source whistleblower submission system that media organizations can use to securely accept documents from and communicate with anonymous sources.
Secure Usability and Accessibility Lab at Open Tech Fund
2025 M Street Northwest, Downtown, Washington, DC 20036, USAThese usability challenges hamper tool adoption, or may cause misunderstandings for users about tool functionalities, and subsequently may give users a false sense of security.
Rarenet runs joint activities that aim to improve coordinated response, education and advocacy in cyber security threats affecting civil society and activism online.
Guide to organizational security
The Engine Room, Albany Street, London, UK
Digital Attack Map
New York, NYDigital Attack Map visualizes the most powerful DDoS attacks happening in the world right now
Guardian Project creates easy to use secure apps, open-source software libraries, and customized mobile devices that can be used around the world by any person looking to protect their communications and personal data from unjust intrusion, interception and monitoring.
Building resilient systems to keep civil society safe online
Totem is an online learning platform on using digital security tools and tactics effectively for journalists, activists, and trainers.
Psiphon is a free and open-source internet censorship circumvention tool that uses a combination of secure communication and obfuscation technologies, providing open access to the internet for millions of citizens around the world.
Protecting democratic elections through secure, verifiable voting
Defend Our Movements is a web based clearinghouse of the most up-to-date and useful information about protecting your devices and data—whether on the Internet, through cell phone communications, or in your home or office.
Jigsaw
New York, NYHow can technology make people in the world safer?
CryptoHarlem
Harlem, Manhattan, New York, NY, USACryptoHarlem is a Digital Surveillance Clinic that has been meeting on a monthly basis since 2013 in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. It is always open to the public and completely free of charge.
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