What is digital security, and should civil society organisations in Africa be concerned?

While the war in Ukraine progresses and we are forced to watch the brave men and women fight for their country’s freedom and independence, many others are organizing their lives after being forced to flee their country.

The war in Ukraine is entering its fourth month. We’ve been watching brave men and women fight for their country’s freedom and independence, while many others are organizing their lives after being forced to flee their country and settle abroad.

NGOs and activist groups often wish to involve famous people, influencers to their communication to reach a wider audience with their help. However, perhaps even the most open-minded organisations in Hungary would not have thought to ask "Pumped Gabo", originally known for his muscles and senseless partying, to be an ambassador for their cause. A coming of age story or the true face of a previously misunderstood celebrity? We looked at why the bodybuilder-turned-activist’s story works.

With the dramatic increase of our digital footprint (in other words, the footprint of our activities in the online word, e.g. use of social media sites, emailing, blogging, accepting cookies on various websites etc.... data protection is not only an issue for large companies, but it is equally important for civil society organisations and individual users as well. However, while the former can often employ a whole team of security experts, in case of civil society organisations it is an issue that we have to deal with ourselves. Keep in mind that the most precious information today is data and identity, therefore it is especially important to protect them.

Russia's war against Ukraine is not only taking place on the battlefields and in besieged cities, but also in the information space. This was true even before the digital age, but war propaganda has reached a new level thanks to the possibilities of the Internet. Fake news, dubious images, videos, untraceable figures, battlefield results, not to mention conspiracy theories explaining the background to the attack.

It’s been a difficult 2 years. And on February 24th when Russia attacked Ukraine it got even harder. It’s a challenging time which is testing us as activists, but also, more importantly, as people. We’re doing the best we can, but living in a constant state of unknown, having to prepare for the unexpected or currently focusing a lot of energy and resources on supporting our Ukrainian friends, who are in a much more difficult situation, takes its toll.

Dezinformacja w służbie Putina, czyli o tym jak nie wpaść w tryby machiny propagandowej: webinarium 03.03.2022 (czwartek); 18:30-19:30

Save the dates, mark your calendars and get ready to go! These are the five Media Literacy Events you simply cannot miss in 2022!!!

PERSONAL DEMOCRACY FORUM UKRAINE (PDF UA 2022) is back!

This year PDF UA will be held on March 3-4 in Kyiv in a hybrid form.

The “Future of the Elections” is the main topic this year.

TechSoup Europe joins OPORA, TransparenCEE Network and OSCE ODIHR for the fifth time and brings "tech4good", transparency, and open data topics to the Ukrainian debate about democracy and the role of civil society.

"If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking."

- R. Buckminster Fuller

An engaging storytelling ability is crucial to catch the attention of an ever-distracted audience. The best stories share the same essential elements, arranged in a specific order to gradually build tension, that makes us want to find out what happens next. Let’s learn together how to build a powerful story that our audience won't be able to keep their eyes off!

You’ve got a good reason to do what you do, but how can you present this reason in a compelling way to those who think differently? This is where the persuasion (learning with an emotional dimension) comes in.

It’s only by learning what really counts for your audience and why it does, that you can really figure out what kind of communication will be in alignment with their needs and values.

In order to identify their behaviour, their beliefs behind it, or the emotional drivers, try out the Mapping Technique.

Knowing your audience perfectly well is the cornerstone of every successful communication. So, there are three essential questions you need to get the answers to before you start crafting your campaign. The first one is about who you’re talking to, the second - about their behaviour related to your cause, and then the last one, to look for their motivation.

Most often when we notice media articles about a hacking incident, it is usually because the target (or a victim) is a larger, more well-known company to the public. When Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc. are victims of a cyber-incident, and the media are naturally interested in the topic, and thus inform the public. However, almost regardless of the magnitude and sophistication of such attacks on well-established companies and organizations, they are almost always "resolved", i.e., they have their own beginning, course, and end, or resolution. The resolution is not always "positive" for the company institution: sometimes victims pay huge sums of money (usually in cryptocurrencies) to attackers in order to get their data back.

The second podcast of NIOK Foundation and Hive Mind focused on philanthropy as with Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, another celebration has arrived: Giving Tuesday! Unfortunately the podcast itself is in Hungarian, but for those who are yet to learn this wonderful language, we have collected some tips and thoughts for NGOs from the conversation.

We live in the Information Age. Our ability to synthesize and use information well is crucial to our fate and future well-being. Our Experts have been designing bespoke courses on topics that are relevant, set in a meaningful context and important. From making sense of the news online, to protecting your own or your organization’s digital safety and privacy.

We are happy to share with you a 10-episode video tutorial prepared by TechSoup Europe. We hope it will help you make eye-catching graphics for your content with CANVA: an online design and publishing tool available in basic version for free for everyone, and for nonprofits, also free of charge in the pro version.

In Hungary, when it comes to the analysis of news, fake news, or in general, any sort of medium, the most suitable subject is a media lesson to learn how to approach the topic. This subject, however, is riddled with so many problems in the already convoluted education system, that in 2020, in the first iteration of the latest National Curriculum, the subject almost got entirely removed.

On September 28-30, TechSoup held a three-day campaign, focused on teaching Digital Storytelling to Nonprofits and NGOs entitled "Lights, Camera, Take Action!". Its aim was to help organizations learn the basics of effective, impact storytelling during three days filled with online workshops led by top experts in the sector. Hive Mind was present there, too, and we are especially proud of the webinar session that was run as part of the event by our Polish Master Trainer and Localisation Expert on Building Positive Narratives, Hubert Sobecki.

On September 28-30, TechSoup will hold a three-day campaign, focused on teaching Digital Storytelling to Nonprofits and NGOs. Join free training today and make an impact with your story!

In this podcast episode, you will hear Jakub Górnicki talking to Tomáš Kriššák about the Project HOPE, within which a set of tools in the form of an online game was designed to help people tackle negative consequences of the Internet and the social media, including cyber-bullying and propaganda.

This podcast episode brings together Anna Chęć and "Klara", who is a TechSoup Europe trainer from Poland, a security researcher, a hacktivist, currently working as a software security engineer for a financial institution. In this episode you can listen to what are some of the key threats once you buy a smartphone and why it is important to secure it well.

In this episode Anna Chęć is talking to "Klara", who is - like Anna - a TechSoup Europe trainer from Poland, but on top of this, she is also a security researcher and a hacktivist. Anna and "Klara" are great at talking about complex security topics in an easy-to-digest, friendly and open manner. In this episode you can find out if there is such a thing as anonymity on the Internet.

In this episode of our “Let’s Talk Digital Resilience!” podcast series, we’ll be joined by Anna Chęć, talking to "Klara" (a real-deal hactivist), who are both TechSoup Europe trainers on Digital Safety & Security.

Do you ever look at the screen-time analysis on your smart phone and cannot believe the high number it displays? If not –great, but if you do –then this podcast is for you.

In this episode you will hear Jakub Górnicki talking to Kamil Śliwowski -

a Media Literacy, Open Educational Resources and Online Privacy expert.

Kamil explains how he has gone from becoming a techno-enthusiast to a real techie helping people better understand the negative effects of using technology...

Welcome to the Hive Mind podcast series: “Let’s Talk Digital Resilience!”, where we would like to offer you a chance to enjoy 5 meaningful conversations led by top experts in the field of media technology, online security, and digital wellbeing.

"Operational Security (OpSec) is a continuous process to ensure operational success in the face of adversaries. [...] Before you understand how to protect yourself, you should realise how to attack yourself."

- Melanie Rieback, CEO/Co-founder of Radically Open Security, NL

If you would like to learn more about being safe and resilient against cyber threats, watch the recording from the webinar we did on June 22, 2021,

led by Melanie Rieback and one of her ethical hackers, Stefan Marsiske.

"Bro/ Sis, Just Be YOURSELF. I got your back!" - 1st Community Building Billboard Campaign Targeting Siblings of LGBTIQ+ Persons.

Building resilience against disinformation.

Success stories at the grassroot level.

Missed any of our events, feeling like watching it again diving straight into the extra resources and materials? We've got it covered.

We'd like to invite young people associated in non-governmental organizations, informal groups, dialogue bodies and activists acting on their own to free online training sessions on disinformation, recognizing it, preventing and counteracting its negative effects. The training is addressed to all those who understand the importance of disinformation in public life, who would like to learn more about the ways it works, get specific tools of recognition and methods of dealing with it. We also invite people who actively participate in public life (also at the local level) and therefore are most vulnerable to disinformation actions aimed at undermining their credibility and the trust of public opinion, necessary to effectively fight for the public good or the interests of the groups they represent.