Cybersecurity Challenges COVER

Solidarity Playbook on cybersecurity

In partnership with the CyberPeace Institute, we have expanded the Solidarity Playbook – a collection of case studies and best practices – to feature four case studies on cybersecurity that share examples of how (I)CSOs have dealt with actual cyberattacks.

This case study collection aims to make the (I)CSOs’ experiences, strategies, and lessons learned available for other civil society actors who have faced or might face similar cyberattacks and challenges in the future. The cases provide first-hand accounts of how (I)CSOs responded to attacks and insights into how organisations can prevent and mitigate similar incidents. The case studies provide relevant information for anyone working at an (I)CSO, regardless of their department as cybersecurity needs to be a shared responsibility.

Case studies on cybersecurity

The collection of four case studies represents a snapshot of several cybersecurity incidents: a phishing attack that hijacked an organisation’s social media account; a spear phishing attack that targeted employees’ email accounts over six weeks; a brute-force attack that featured a high volume of attempted logins; and a ransomware attack in which attackers exploited a server vulnerability to hold an organisation’s data hostage.

Regaining access to a social media account

 The Union for International Cancer Control faced a social media phishing attack, which resulted in the hijacking of the World Cancer Day Instagram account. Although the team had received phishing emails in the past, the sophisticated nature of this attack made it difficult to recognise as a phishing attack.

Read the case study here

Resisting six weeks of sustained phishing attacks

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 IT team at the Secretariat responded to this persistent effort to breach the organisation’s systems.

Read the case study here

Deflecting a sophisticated brute-force and phishing attack

The organisation working in the humanitarian sector was targeted by a brute-force attack through their webmail, followed by targeted phishing emails. With support from an external cybersecurity company and in cooperation with the organisation’s management and staff, the IT team managed to avert this intense attack.

Read the case study here

Retrieving access to a hacked IT server

The global non-profit organisation was attacked by a hacker group to extort a ransom. The team mobilised internal experts and additional help through the organisation’s cyber insurance provider to negotiate with the attackers, counter the threat, and restore the organisation’s data.

Read the case study here

Lessons learned and opportunity areas

Learn from key observations, challenges, and lessons across four Solidarity Playbook case studies on cybersecurity and explore action steps to take to better prepare for a cyberattack.

Read the key findings here

 

Guidance for (I)CSO professionals