SafeSisters Fellow and rights activist, Lisa Diasay, has facilitated free cybersecurity training for selected women rights activists and journalists in Liberia.

Development Diaries reports that the training aimed to enhance women’s digital protection in journalism and rights protection in the West African country.

During the training, Diasay stressed the importance of digital security knowledge for women journalists and activists given the sensitive nature of their careers.

The training covered safeguarding personal information, securing devices, and strengthening online security.

It is understood that the main legal text in the country that relates to the information society is the Telecommunications Act of 2007.

However, the law does not include elements related to cybercrime, and Liberia has no legislation on privacy and data protection.

Participants were trained in enabling two-factor authentication on their accounts, encrypting their devices, identifying social engineering tactics, recognising phishing emails, and taking proactive steps to protect their privacy.

‘This training was designed particularly for me because I didn’t even know that most of what I had been doing was exposing myself to threats and increasing my vulnerabilities’, one of the participants, Famatta Thomas, said.

The Safe Sisters Fellowship programme is designed to train women human rights defenders, journalists, media workers, and activists to understand and address the digital security challenges they face in their work and daily lives.

Photo source: World Bank