Before you begin, decide how many stations and cases your rally will have – for the purposes of demonstration, these instructions are based on a rally with five stations (one case each). Don’t forget to include instructions in each case indicating to which station groups should proceed next upon solving it.
Distribute the five stations evenly throughout the space you have available, they can all be in the same room (or in different rooms if you have you have access) - this exercise works best if stations are in different spaces, as it makes the rally more dynamic and competitive. If possible, try to find location for the rally that is outside the training venue where you and the participants have been working – this will be provide a welcome change of scene.
Each of the stations will feature a case that participants must solve using what they’ve learned from the training, in addition to any toolkit you provide them (see below). The rally is best done in groups, with each group sent through the course via a different route so that the response time varies and to avoid overcrowding the stations.
| TEAM 1 | TEAM 2 |
|---|---|
| Station 1 (Start) | Station 5 (Start) |
| Station 2 | Station 3 |
| Station 3 | Station 1 |
| Station 4 | Station 2 |
| Station 5 | Station 4 |
| FINISH LINE | FINISH LINE |
| No. | Tool |
|---|---|
| 1 | Virtual Private Network (VPN) |
| 2 | Antivirus Software |
| 3 | Tor Browser & Anonymous Email Account |
| 4 | Encryption (PGP keys) |
| 5 | Security Protocol |
| 6 | Immediate Response Measures |
| 7 | Gender-Based Risk Model |
A filmmaker has just completed a documentary about forced disappearances in Mexico. One evening, she leaves her office after a late work meeting, intending to go home and send the documentary to her collaborators and relatives, as well as victims and specialists interviewed for the film. Upon arriving home though, she discovers that her apartment has been raided – worst of all, she realizes that the laptop containing the finished documentary footage is missing (with no backup available). What would you advise in this situation?
Tool to Use (from the Toolkit): Immediate Response Measures
Recommendations:
Notifying her contacts of what has just happened, especially those involved in the production of the film;
Changing all passwords for her online accounts, and enabling 2-step verification where there is the option of doing so;
Establishing a security protocol for handling and distributing edited footage in the future;
Asking her if she has any physical or cloud backups of any raw footage, recorded interviews, images etc. that she can recover and store securely;
Reviewing any files that can be recovered to take stock of she has available, in addition locating any of the devices or equipment she used to record and edit the documentary;
Olga is an activist – soon, she will begin working with a group of other women activists to document feminicides in Mexico. They will need to share documents online and discuss sensitive information over the phone, and some of the women will be commissioned to travel to certain cities for interviews with families. What do you recommend?
Tool to Use (from the Toolkit): Security Protocols
Recommendations:
Have a group meeting to make a risk assessment
Agree on the digital security measures that the group will have to implement as well as the travel protocol
Agree on using a safe app to exchange messages such as Signal
Explore safe ways to exchange documents, maybe encrypting them with GPG or sending them through a safe email account such as Tutanota o Riseup.
Nelly is the coordinator of a project dedicated to the delivery of justice for women in her country. She was invited to give a presentation abroad, being in the airport discovers that she has remained her plan without data and has decided not to buy more balance or minutes since she will leave her country. While waiting for the plane she wants to check her mail by connecting to the airport’s wi-fi network, what should she do?
Tool to Use (from the Toolkit): VPN
Ariadna is an Ecuadorian journalist who is working on the investigation of a case of diversion of funds. To this end, she is making a requests for information to its government. What would you advise her to use to make the request securely?
Tool to Use (from the Toolkit): Tor Browser & Anonymous Email Account
A feminist collective that defends women’s right to decide has been harassed for a week on social networks, what could they do to protect themselves?
Tool to Use (from the Toolkit): Gender-Based Risk Model
Recommendations:
Divide the participants into teams depending on the size of the group – so that everyone can participate and contribute equally, it is not recommended for group sizes to exceed 5 participants. Remember to let each team choose a fun, creative name for themselves!
Now that the teams finalized and the stations are set up, explain the rules of DigiSec Rally to participants:
According to the routes and station order established in the Station Order and Team Route Guide, indicate to each team at which station they should begin and at which station they will end – be sure to point out where each station is to participants ahead of time so they don’t get lost!
Teams must solve a case at each station, using what they’ve learned from the training and the Case Toolkit you’ve given them – they can be creative in their responses: just like in the real world, there is no “one size fits all” solution to any of the cases!
Give teams a moment or so to prepare themselves – then call out “Ready, Set, Go!”
The first team to work through each of the cases at every station and make it back to the starting point is the winner!
Once both teams have completed the entire rally course, hold a closing circle. In the circle, each team should explain their responses for each case, explaining the process by which they determined each of their solutions. Provide active feedback to teams as they explain their recommendations for each case.