OrgSec Village 2024: Uniting Practitioners to Share Best Practices in Digital Security 

During the last week of September, the Greater Internet Freedom (GIF) team hosted the Organizational Security Village (OrgSec Village), a four-day event in sunny Estoril, Portugal, as a satellite event of Team CommUNITY’s Global Gathering. 

“Whenever I attend a conference, I like to reflect on whether it’s adding value to my life and if I’m adding value to those who gave me the opportunity. In the case of OrgSec Village, I feel it’s both. It’s having a significant impact, adding value to our organization, and personally, I feel like I’m benefiting a great deal.” – Ayaan Khalif 

This third edition of Internews’ OrgSec Village brought together over 130 participants from more than 50 countries, representing more than 60 organizations operating at local, regional, and global levels. Experts from diverse fields, including digital security, human rights, and media, engaged in sessions on timely and pressing topics such as AI’s impact on organizational security, the rise of deep fakes threatening women’s safety, and strategies for maintaining information flow during internet shutdowns. Participants also explored adult learning techniques for dynamic security training, the integration of psychosocial approaches into digital security, and took part in hands-on workshops like CyberSim, which simulated digital risks for civil society organizations. 

“This year, we have a mix of everything, which is great because we’re seeing some interesting trends. One trend is the increased focus on gender-related work and other groups within the context of security. We also explored psychosocial support and holistic security, something we’re seeing more frequently,” explains Carlos Guerra, Digital Security Technical Advisor at Greater Internet Freedom and one of the organizers of this year’s OrgSec Village. 

Other topics focused on the rapid advancement of technology and growing government censorship. As governments expand surveillance and censorship measures, human rights defenders, journalists, and civil society groups face increased risks of being silenced or compromised. Authoritarians and adversaries of civil society actors have become increasingly sophisticated in recent years.  

“Ten years ago, only a few countries with greater technical capacities and financial resources could operate at a high level of sophistication. Today, however, the tools for repression and censorship have spread worldwide. This has led to a growing imbalance, with civil society actors – often with fewer resources – now facing more powerful, resource-rich governments and other malicious actors. This is a significant trend,” notes Carlos Guerra. 

The Value of Being Part of a Community 

In addition to discussing pressing topics, participants actively exchanged resources and practical tools to address emerging challenges in the field. This collaborative environment allowed attendees to share insights, methodologies, and strategies that could be implemented across various regions and contexts. By pooling their knowledge and experiences, participants were able to explore new approaches to overcoming obstacles like digital repression, cybersecurity threats, and technological advancements, equipping one another with the means to adapt and strengthen their efforts in safeguarding digital security. 

“My biggest takeaway from this event is the sheer number of resources I’ve gathered. Throughout the morning, I was collecting recommendations – read this article, read this book, talk to this person. For me, what matters most is the wealth of resources I’m taking back with me, more than the cost or the challenges I faced to get here,” says Ayaan Khalif, Co-founder of Digital Shelter in Somalia and a participant in this year’s OrgSec Village. 

The same sentiment is shared by Aws Al-Saadi, Founder and President of Tech4Peace, GIF’s local partner from Iraq, who notes that OrgSec Village is an excellent venue for sharing updates, tools, knowledge, and advice. It also fosters a community capable of providing direct solutions when problems arise. 

“This allows for faster action and better collaboration. For example, if there are security issues, or the need for additional security, the response will be quicker and more effective,” says Aws Al-Saadi. 

Another benefit of the OrgSec Village is that it brings together people from different countries and regions who often face similar challenges. It provides a space to exchange ideas and tools for addressing these challenges collaboratively. 

“There is so much expertise in this community, but it sometimes exists in small pockets, making it difficult to share. There are very few spaces where you’ll see someone from Uganda collaborating with someone from Ukraine, sharing best practices and discussing experiences. Creating that space, especially for newcomers who don’t typically have these opportunities, is incredibly important,” explains Ashley Fowler, Senior Manager at the Internet Freedom & Resilience team at Internews, and one of the founders of OrgSec Village. 

The event brought together experts from a wide range of fields, including digital security practitioners, cybersecurity experts, trainers, researchers, help desk officers, program managers, and journalists. To foster a sense of community, participants at OrgSec Village were not required to have any prior knowledge or specific qualifications. 

“There was room for all skill and knowledge levels. This created an opportunity to diversify the space, bring in new voices, and ensure that we included those already doing the work and those who want to get involved,” says Ashley Fowler. 

Participants also appreciated how easy it was to follow the discussions, with presenters and participants avoiding complex tech jargon, making it easier for everyone to engage. 

“We often explain things from an IT expert’s perspective, forgetting that many people don’t have a tech background. How do you explain these concepts to someone without that knowledge? In every session and presentation, simple, clear language was used, making everything easy to follow. This made me think about how I can simplify these ideas for my community without using big words. This is what we should be doing more of to make people feel included,” says Ayaan Khalif. 

So, how did it all begin? 

It started in 2020, initiated by a few members of Internews. OrgSec Village was initially envisioned as a physical space for exchanging ideas, with a focus on specific communities or topics, as part of the Internet Freedom Festival. However, when the pandemic hit, the event transitioned to a virtual format. Despite the change, the first few virtual editions of OrgSec Village were well attended. 

“It was so successful that first year. The event was well attended, and the community even asked for it again, saying, ‘We need this space. We want this space,'” recalls Ashley Fowler. 

While the virtual gatherings provided much-needed space for shared discussions, learnings, and the exchange of information during the pandemic, participants were eager to return to in-person events. 

“In-person networking, especially bringing in new voices from underrepresented regions or those new to digital security and internet freedom, is invaluable. The impact of interacting with peers from other regions is completely different. For example, in a recent session, we saw how an organization in the Middle East handles incident response and fact-checking, a method that other regions are now trying to adopt. This space for sharing successful approaches, tools, and experiences fosters valuable collaboration and helps advance internet freedom by leveraging collective knowledge from across the globe,” explains Carlos Guerra.