Open Tech Calendar

The purpose of his workshop is to offer practical cybersecurity advice that ‘real people’, not just digital geeks, can understand and apply in their daily lives.

The workshop has been organised in response to recent comments made by the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, who justified putting pressure on WhatsApp to weaken their security standards by saying: "real people often prefer ease of use and a multitude of features to perfect, unbreakable security".

The session will examine the very real threats 'real people' face to their security and privacy online and, most importantly, the practical steps people can take to protect themselves and their friends and family. We want the workshop to be as inclusive as possible and will be addressing the additional threats women, BME and LGBTQ people and other groups face when going online.

By running the workshop, we aim to show ‘real people’ that they don’t have to trade their online security and safety for usability and features. We also hope our session makes the Home Secretary and other politicians realise that people do care about security and encourage them to re-think their dangerous plans to force internet companies such as WhatsApp to deliberately weaken the security of their products.

Ahead of the workshop, you may find the following resources helpful:

A DIY Guide to Feminist Cybersecurity

Surveillance Self-Defense

Cyber Aware

Photo: "Official portrait of Amber Rudd" by UK Parliament is licensed under CC BY 3.0 (image modified, just a tad)