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The Report at a Glance
Transparency International is a global movement working to end the injustice of corruption. Through research, advocacy, and campaigning, they work to expose the systems and networks that enable corruption to thrive, demanding greater transparency, accountability, and integrity at all levels and across all sectors of society.
The organisation’s structure includes national chapters in more than 100 countries. Each national chapter has its own IT department, and these departments coordinate with the Secretariat in Berlin, Germany, for different types of support.
In 2019, Transparency International experienced a sustained and sophisticated phishing attack, which was detected through a sharp increase in failed attempts to log in to organisational email accounts. Over a six-week period, the five-person IT team at the Secretariat monitored and responded to this persistent effort to breach the organisation’s systems.
What were the key lessons learnt?
- Improve the threat model
- Establish peer networks before incidents occur
- Shorten response times
- Multi-factor authentication is a useful security measure, but it is not bulletproof
- Bring in cybersecurity expertise