Explore the latest edition and its new workflow navigation on digitaldefenders.org.
The DFAK is a free resource to help rapid responders, digital security trainers, and tech-savvy activists better protect themselves and the communities they support from the most common types of digital emergencies, such as lost devices or data, suspicious devices and accounts, websites that don’t work, defamation, online impersonation, doxing, and harassment.
The DFAK can also be used by anyone who wants to learn more about protecting themselves and supporting others with digital security. If you or someone you support is experiencing a digital emergency, the DFAK will help you assess the situation in more detail and signpost you to support organizations for further help if needed.
The DFAK includes a section for browsing CiviCERT member organizations that support human rights defenders and civil society actors facing digital threats and attacks, as well as recommendations for self-care and how to document digital attacks. The DFAK is now available in 14 languages, including Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Burmese, English, Farsi, French, Indonesian, Kyrgyz, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian.
Context
The Digital First Aid Kit has been developed since 2015 as a free and open resource, informed by the experiences of rapid responders and digital security experts, with a focus on supporting groups and organizations working for social justice and the defense of human and digital rights. This third version of the DFAK aimed to update the digital emergency issues addressed in its content, as we know that online threats are evolving at a rapid pace. To this end, four new sections have been added, covering surveillance, defamation, doxing and non-consensual sharing of intimate media, as well as how to document digital threats and attacks, including gender-based online violence. In addition, all other workflows have been reviewed and updated, and translations have been updated to include new languages such as Armenian, Farsi, Kyrgyz and Ukrainian.
The DFAK is a resource for people who want to better diagnose what is happening to them or the people they support, and if they cannot troubleshoot their problem, to find out which CiviCERT organization can help them. For this reason, in each section, readers answer questions to help identify the cause of the problem and are then directed to tips, resources or organizations that can provide further support, such as Access Now, Civilsphere Project, Computer Incident Response Center Luxembourg, COLNODO – Escuela de Seguridad Digital, Co-Creation Hub, Digital Defenders Partnership, Digital Rights Foundation, Digital Society of Zimbabwe, Deflect, Digital Security Lab Ukraine, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Front Line Defenders, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Greenhost, Interlab, Internews, Jordan Open Source Association, Media Diversity Institute Armenia, Myan ICT for Development Organization, Fundacion Karisma, Miaan Group, Nothing2Hide, Qurium Media Foundation, SHARE CERT, SMEX, Social TIC, TibCERT – Tibetan Computer Emergency Readiness Team.
Methodology
The methodological framework for the Digital First Aid Kit is based on organized events called Sprints, which are open to RaReNet and CiviCERT members. These events take place either face to face in Berlin, either online, or both. In recent years, there have been four sprints, in 2018 and 2019, where 25 people worked together to create eight workflows on the most common digital threats. In 2020, an online sprint was organised to review and update the contents and their translations. Finally, in 2022, there was a face-to-face, and an online sprint focused on creating four new workflows (monitoring, diffusion, documentation and sharing of personal information) and reviewing and updating existing ones. Both events were run simultaneously with 30 participants.
In addition, this new version has been migrated to a new technical platform, making it easier to manage all content, improve navigation and readability when studying a workflow, and improve browsing and searching options within the DFAK.
Collaborative Authoring
The DFAK is a collaboration between RaReNet (Rapid Response Network) and CiviCERT members. CiviCERT is a network of Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs), Rapid Response Teams, and independent Internet content and service providers that help civil society prevent and address digital security issues. It is currently made up of 38 organizations. CiviCERT is an initiative of RaReNet – an umbrella organization formed by the partnership of Internet content and service providers, NGOs and individuals who volunteer some of their time and resources to the community to improve the security awareness of civil society worldwide. The Digital First Aid Kit is also an open-source project that accepts external contributions.
Last but not least, the 14 translations have been done by professional translators, and we have tried to find them among rapid response networks to ensure that they understand the specificities of digital emergencies and online threats.
License
The content of the DFAK is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) license. Licensees may copy, distribute, display, perform, and create derivative works and remixes based on the work only if they give the author or licenser attribution in the manner specified.
How to Contact Us
For any suggestions or press inquiries about the DFAK you can write to: dfak@digitaldefenders.org (GPG – Fingerprint: 1759 8496 25C1 56EC 1EB4 1F06 6CC1 888F 5D75 706B). If you have any problems, please leave a note in the DFAK Gitlab repository.