Bad Security Ruins Stories And Lives

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There is a silent war on the free press. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, more than 300 journalists were imprisoned in 2024, with many of those cases involving surveillance and compromised digital communications. A recent study by the Freedom of the Press Foundation found that 80 percent of journalists believe they’ve been targeted by phishing or spyware during their careers.

Advanced tools like Pegasus spyware have infected phones in countries including Mexico, France, and India. These attacks often happen silently, using zero-click exploits that require no user interaction. Even major newsrooms like The Guardian and Al Jazeera have been hit by cyberattacks designed to intimidate or expose. Freelance journalists are especially vulnerable, often working without institutional security support.

If you work in journalism today, protecting your sources and your stories means protecting your digital environment too. This edition of Cyber Hygiene explains who is most at risk, what the major threats look like, and how to defend your reporting from the moment you start researching to the day your story goes live.

🕵️♂️ WHO needs strong cyber hygiene in journalism?

Every journalist. From international war correspondents to local news reporters, anyone who collects, stores, or transmits sensitive information is a target. Freelancers often lack institutional protections. Even lifestyle or entertainment reporters can inadvertently become entry points to larger networks.

Also at risk:

• Editors who handle drafts and embargoed material
• Photojournalists with sensitive geolocation data
• Fact-checkers with access to source communications
• Newsroom IT and admin staff

If you touch a story, you're part of its digital attack surface.

🌍 WHERE are the biggest digital risks for journalists?

💣 WHAT are the main cyber threats journalists face?

• Phishing attacks posing as sources, editors, or PR reps
• Zero-day exploits in messaging apps like WhatsApp or Signal
• Device seizure or tampering at border crossings or in conflict zones
• Metadata leaks, revealing source identity via file history, geotags, or communication patterns
• Doxxing and harassment, especially for investigative or political reporters
• Surveillance spyware, often deployed by state-level actors (e.g., Pegasus)

Account takeovers on email, Twitter/X, and Signal, threatening both credibility and safety

⏰ WHEN should journalists think about cyber hygiene?

Before, during, and after the story.

• Before: Assess risk level based on region, topic, and source type.
• During: Use secure channels and devices; avoid uploading sensitive data to personal clouds.
• After: Safely store or delete source materials. Audit communications for potential leaks.

Cyber hygiene isn’t a one-time checklist. It’s an ongoing habit.

🧭 WHY is cyber hygiene essential for journalism?

• It protects sources, who are the backbone of credible journalism.
• It safeguards your integrity. A single hacked account can discredit your reporting.
• It prevents censorship. Many cyberattacks are designed to silence, not to steal.
• It reduces legal and reputational risk, especially in press-hostile environments.

When journalists fall, society loses the truth.

🛠 HOW can journalists practice good cyber hygiene?

🧰 What Resources Are Available to Help Protect Journalists?

📚Books  

1. Digital Security Essentials For Journalists and Activists: Empowering One Of The Most Targeted Professionals with Digital Security (2023) by Mr. Hossein Azad Aghvami 
2. The Digital Journalists' Handbook: Deep Web for Journalists – Comms, Counter-Surveillance, Search (2017) by  Alan Pearce
3. Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime―from Global Epidemic to Your Front Door (2015) by Brian Krebs

🎙️ Podcasts 

1. Better Cybersecurity Practices for Journalists | Guest Marcus Fowler by Chris Sienko, Infosec
2. Cybersecurity For Journalists by National Press Club Live
3. Behind the Scenes of Cybersecurity Media and Reporting by Elliot Volkman

🛠️ Recommended Tools 

1.  https://gcatoolkit.org/journalists/
2. https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/want-to-stay-safe-online-learn-how-in-our-new-free-course-on-digital-security-for-journalists/
3. https://globalcyberalliance.org/work/gca-cybersecurity-toolkit/gca-cybersecurity-toolkit-for-journalists/
4. https://journaliststoolbox.ai/digital-security-safety/
5. https://www.eff.org/issues/border-searches
6. https://ksj.mit.edu/news/2025/06/12/cyber-security-wolfangel/

🧠 Final Thought

 If people are the media now, then every device is a newsroom and every account is a potential front page. Journalists no longer operate in isolation. Whether you work for a major outlet or publish independently, your digital footprint can be traced, manipulated, or weaponized. The lines between professional and personal, and between press and public, are increasingly blurred.

Credibility today means more than getting the facts right. It means protecting the people who share those facts with you. It means securing your sources, your drafts, your messages, and even your metadata. A single compromised password, an intercepted file, or a silent spyware infection can destroy years of trust and put lives at risk.

Being the media comes with power, but also with responsibility. To tell the truth, you must survive the attempt to silence it. Cyber hygiene is not just good practice. It is a duty to the people who trust you with their stories.

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This article was written by Marc Raphael with the support of:

Team CyberMaterial and Team 911Cyber

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