Since at least 2009—when the Arab Spring illustrated the possibilities, and the vulnerabilities, of online democracy and human rights activism—digital security trainers and experts have aided human rights activists in repressive or otherwise dangerous environments around the world.

The philanthropy community is still catching up to the digital security needs faced by civil society. The result is that, even when an organization readies itself to improve the security of its data infrastructure, it seldom has the resources to do so in any meaningful way.

The excellent guides, trainings, and webinars explaining the need for encrypted messaging services secure email, and protected social media accounts are essential. But the reality is that blog posts on using Signal, massive guides to protecting your digital privacy, and broad statements like “use Tor” can be hard to understand or act on. Meanwhile, it’s nearly impossible for service-oriented organizations operating across the far reaches of the philanthropic universe to identify and connect with qualified digital security experts who understand their specific contexts and challenges.

This is why, in this age of increasingly sophisticated attacks against civil society’s digital infrastructure, we need the philanthropic community to support larger efforts in capacity building at the organizational level. Based on our experience addressing digital security needs and making the big changes necessary to protect themselves online, here are four steps civil society organizations and their funders can take to begin addressing this urgent need.

  • Commit to digital security as essential to all work.
  • Take big responsibility for big data.
  • Prioritize “capacity building.”
  •  See the shared threat as a call for interdependence.

Read the full article about digital security in civil society by Josh Levy and Katie Gillum at Stanford Social Innovation Review.