Navigating Digital Threats and Opportunities for Civic Space

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

This case study collection aims to make available the (I)CSOs’ experiences, strategies, and lessons learnt for civil society actors who are exposed to the same risks. The cases provide first-hand accounts of how (I)CSOs responded to attacks and insights on how organisations can prevent and mitigate similar incidents in the future. 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, as cybersecurity needs to be a shared responsibility.

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’s vulnerability to hold an organisation’s data hostage.