diff --git a/1_checklist_introduction.md b/1_checklist_introduction.md
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+---
+document set: DIGITAL SECURITY CHECKLISTS FOR U.S. NON-PROFITS
+title: Introduction
+author: Jonah Silas Sheridan, Lisa Jervis
+last modified: 11/18/2015
+version: "1.0, PEER REVIEWED VERSION FOR PUBLIC USE"
+---
+# Introduction
+
+## What is this document set?
+
+This set of documents was made to help small non-profits and NGOs improve their digital security outcomes despite limited resources and technical skill availability. The content was commissioned as part of the [Weathering The Storms]("http://www.roadmapconsulting.org/WTS") initiative of [RoadMap Consulting]("http://www.roadmapconsulting.org/WTS") and fiscally sponsored by [Common Counsel Foundation]("http://commoncounsel.org") of [Oakland, California]("https://localwiki.org/oakland/"). The content was researched and prepared by Jonah Silas Sheridan and Lisa Jervis, Principals of [Information Ecology]("https://iecology.org"), a capacity building consultancy specializing in non-profit and movement technology management, and was peer reviewed by generous members of our community. Many other eyes and hands have helped tune the recommendations to ensure technical accuracy and ease of use. We are grateful to all the members of our community that have helped bring these documents to life.
+
+**If you have feedback or questions about this document set, its contents or how to use it, please contact Information Ecology using [our secure contact form]("https://iecology.org/contact") or PGP encrypted email to info@iecology.org using [this key]("https://iecology.org/0x3C2BACE5E10F3C7A_pub.txt")**
+
+## About digital security
+
+The typical technical definition of digital security says that it is the set of processes and practices used to **manage the risk**of an **adversary**exploiting **vulnerabilities** in your systems such that they may become a **threat** to the **confidentiality**, **integrity**, or **availability** of **digital assets** (e.g., file stores, cloud services, emails) or communication **channels** (e.g., instant messaging, telephone, video chats). What does that really mean? It means digital security is the work of protecting your organization's information from being accessed, changed, or blocked by anyone — internal or external, intentionally or not — who shouldn't be able to do so. Effective security strategies, digital or operational are based on the specific threats, vulnerabilities, and adversaries of your organization. This does not mean that a detailed analysis is necessary to get started improving your digital security practices. Many small U.S. organizations share a set of basic threats and vulnerabilities, which these documents are meant to help them address.
+
+All security practices require a **strong organizational commitment**, as they dictate changes to how you and your team work together, in addition to demanding ongoing attention to ensure that software and practices are regularly updated and working properly. The more you can understand about the threats your organization faces, the better you can select and commit to practices that will be useful for protecting your organization and its operating environment.
+
+We have identified solutions and practices across a range of levels of technical skill and organizational commitment. The effectiveness of these practices to protect from real threats is directly correlated with the level of investment you make in implementing them. With current tools, security measures are nearly always at odds with convenience. The
+more you can understand what actual threats there are to your systems and specific sets of data the more directed (and therefore less impactful to operations) your security practices will be. In this way you assure that the more you put in to securing your systems, the more you will lower your risk of bad outcomes.
+
+## Why digital security checklists?
+
+While computers have revolutionized how non-profits work, the last
+several years have begun to reveal to the general public the many risks
+associated with digital communication and information storage. While all
+organizations want to protect their information—and that of their
+partners and allies—few have a strong understanding of the relevant
+risks and most effective responses. These checklists represent
+recommendations for a set of baseline digital security practices. They
+have been created as a harm reduction step in response to incident
+reports, current research and community feedback about the threats faced
+by non-profits' computer systems.
+
+The public-health concept of harm reduction is a useful approach to any
+situation for which a perfect solution is not available. Despite being
+an incomplete solution, regular hand washing is an important part of
+limiting the risk of getting certain illnesses. Similarly a set of
+standard best practices represented by checklists cannot mitigate all
+risks, yet they can help protect you and your organization from some of
+the serious threats that come with using computers to manage your
+information. These checklists are meant as a starting point in
+understanding and responding to the most basic threats computer users
+face today. They are a necessary first step to secure our movements.
+They are not sufficient for those of us working in extremely hostile
+environments, for instance against highly repressive regimes and in
+risky areas like conflict journalism; in no case should they be a
+substitute for a more aggressive security response where warranted.
+
+## What these checklists are not (and cannot be)
+
+Effective security is an ongoing process. It requires consistent
+practices to be undertaken by all staff, periodic review and adjustment
+to practices, and strong leadership from board and senior staff. Every
+organization faces a specific set of threats to its information, some of
+which may be completely outside the digital realm (e.g., infiltration of
+organizing meetings by a political adversary). As no set of checklists
+can address all situations, these checklists do not represent a complete
+solution for securing your organization.
+
+It is also important to recognize that security and convenience are
+generally at odds. Most security practices, both in the digital realm
+and the “real world,” consist of trade-offs between security and
+efficiency. Following the checklist recommendations will generally not
+make your work smoother and easier. Instead, many will likely create
+some disruption and training needs. In order to make meaningful strides
+in security, your organization must be prepared to make these trade-offs
+whether steep or shallow. These investments in time and attention will
+repay the organization in decreased risk to critical data and systems.
+
+## Who these checklists are for
+
+Due to the variety of threats, vulnerabilities, and adversaries that
+arise in different contexts of geopolitics and scale, the
+recommendations in these checklists apply only to organizations meeting
+the following criteria:
+
+- The organization has one or more primary locations in the United
+ States each with an office network that allows staff computers to
+ connect to each other, internal services and the Internet. Each
+ internal network is trusted to be free from outside interference and
+ is segmented from the open Internet or hosting organizations'
+ networks by a firewall device.
+
+- The organization can successfully protect physical access to its
+ office spaces and office network equipment.
+
+- These office networks do not host any websites or other information
+ resources that are meant to accessible to all users on the public
+ Internet (as opposed to resources such as printers and file servers
+ that are available only to users who are connected to the office
+ network).
+
+- The organization uses primarily Windows or Mac computers with some
+ limited use of mobile devices to access its information systems.
+
+- Although the organization may communicate with partners abroad, its
+ staff do not cross international borders while carrying the
+ organization's equipment or data nor regularly work in a foreign
+ country.
+
+- The organization is broadly seeking to protect itself from security
+ threats from non-persistent general adversaries with limited
+ resources (e.g., disgruntled individuals, identity thieves,
+ political opponents, internal threats) rather than the U.S.
+ government, other governments or other large global entities
+ including multinational corporations.
+
+If these assumptions don't apply to you, these recommendations are
+inadequate; a more rigorous information security approach, in
+partnership with a provider of professional security services, is
+strongly recommended. [Contact RoadMap]("mailto:info@roadmapconsulting.org") for help or referrals .
+
+## How to use these checklists
+
+The items on these checklists are meant to be actionable and accessible;
+each checklist item includes a brief explanation of what it means as
+well as, where possible, next steps for implementation. The icons
+accompanying each item will help you identify how difficult, disruptive
+and costly a given step might be to undertake.
+
+The first checklist deals with Digital Security Readiness. If you cannot
+check off the items on that list, your organization should concentrate
+first on building the capacity to address these foundational elements
+before undertaking additional digital security improvements.
+
+***Although these practices are highly recommended they do
+not in and of themselves constitute a successful security practice.
+Information security is an ongoing process of managing risk and no list
+of procedures is an adequate replacement for a thorough review of what
+information you are protecting, why and from whom paired with an
+organizational commitment to shifting operations to mitigate risk.
+Information Ecology, RoadMap Consulting and Common Counsel are not
+liable for negative outcomes associated with following these practices.***
diff --git a/2_readiness_checklist.md b/2_readiness_checklist.md
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+---
+document set: DIGITAL SECURITY CHECKLISTS FOR U.S. NON-PROFITS
+title: Digital Security Readiness Checklist
+author: Jonah Silas Sheridan, Lisa Jervis
+last modified: 11/18/2015
+version: "1.0, PEER REVIEWED VERSION FOR PUBLIC USE"
+---
+
+# Digital Security Readiness Checklist
+## Introduction
+This checklist contains baseline, ongoing information systems and technology practices that it is recommended your organization already have in place in order to successfully take on a digital security initiative. If you cannot check off more than 75% of the items in the list below, it is recommended you focus on meeting these baselines before proceeding with other digital security work. Even if at 75% or above, be sure to note the unmarked items and make plans to implement them as soon as possible, as not doing so will likely undermine your security efforts.
+
+## Digital Security Readiness Tasks
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Have regular and adequate technical support provided either by staff assigned via job description or contracted with outside agencies.**
+*If your existing hardware and software are not well supported, introducing new tools and practices will likely meet with significant barriers, as new technologies and tools often demand significant ongoing technical support for proper setup and functioning. There are as many ways to secure technical support as there are organizations. Talking to peer organizations in your area is a good way to find quality help.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Have a culture of training and learning, including strong technology training and follow up as part of new staff orientation procedures.**
+*New tools and practices demand end user training. If your organization doesn't have established practices around training, implementing improved and possibly complex secure practices is nearly impossible. Beginning with documentation and training for new hires is a wise first step in this area. Following up with new employees at 30 day intervals will ensure they continue to get the support they need to do their work effectively and securely.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Have a common and clearly communicated set of information systems that all staff use effectively.**
+*If your staff are using personal file-sharing, email, task management, or other accounts without knowledge or guidance from the organization, not only will your efficiency suffer but the environment becomes impractical to secure. How can you protect things you have no access to at an administrative level or, worse yet, don't even know are in use?*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Have a recurrent line item for technology in your budget**
+*Security is an ongoing process and will require ongoing investments in computer equipment and software to be effective. Work with your technical support provider to determine an appropriate amount to put into this line item.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Provide relatively new and adequately powered computers to all staff**
+*Industry standard best practice is to replace laptops and desktops every 3 to 5 years. Encryption tools use a lot of power and can bring older, inadequately powered computers to a near halt, making some security steps untenable for staff. Money for replacing 1/3 to 1/5 of your computers each year should be part of your recurring technology budgeting.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Have some baseline non-technical security practices**
+*If you do not control your office space and access to your computers, your other digital security steps can be easily circumvented by walking into your office. Rotate alarm system codes, door codes, wireless network passwords and other sensitive access procedures such as emergency building access when staff leave the organization.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Make sure the computers and other devices you use, including personal devices that staff may use to access organizational information, are not compromised by malware, viruses or other intrusive software.**
+*As a first step, ensure you are running antivirus software on all computers. Antivirus software for Macs and Windows computers is available to non-profits at a discounted rate through [Tech Soup] ("http://techsoup.org"). If you haven't been running antivirus software or otherwise aren't sure about the status of your devices, you can have the operating system (OS) on it reinstalled to help guarantee
+the computer is free of malware and viruses.*
+
+*If reinstalling, use a copy from the OS provider wherever possible. Computer manufacturer often bundle other software in their installs which may impact privacy and security but may also contain specific tools for the hardware (especially in laptops). There are other ways in which your devices can be compromised at a low level which cannot be remedied by an OS reinstall. If your computers have been handled by third parties you don't trust, out of your possession in a hostile environment or you suspect intrusion by powerful or well resourced entities, get a new computer and call a security professional.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Have a disaster recovery plan that includes making regular backups of organizational data that are stored away from your main offices. Do not rely exclusively on third parties to back up and hold your information.**
+*This actually is a digital security practice itself, but straightforward and critical enough that it needs to come before any other digital security steps. Talk to your technical support provider about the status of your backups. Refer to [this guide] ("http://www.techsoup.org/disaster-planning-and-recovery") for ideas on how to improve your disaster preparedness.*
diff --git a/3_legend.md b/3_legend.md
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+---
+document set: DIGITAL SECURITY CHECKLISTS FOR U.S. NON-PROFITS
+title: Legend
+author: Jonah Silas Sheridan, Lisa Jervis
+last modified: 11/18/2015
+version: "1.0, PEER REVIEWED VERSION FOR PUBLIC USE"
+---
+# Legend
+## What The Icons In These Documents Mean
+
+## :heavy_check_mark:
+This check mark icon flags places for you to record actions you have taken. Check them off as you go!
+
+## :rocket:
+This rocket icon represents the overall difficulty rating for a checklist item. One star items should be doable by most technology capable organizations. Items with two stars may require some outside assistance and work flow shifts. Three stars will require significant organizational commitment of resources and technical assistance. Items with four stars are only for organizations ready to take on advanced security practices, including the ongoing commitment of human and other resources needed to make them effective.
+
+## :wrench:
+This wrench icon represents the amount of technical skill needed to undertake the practice. One set of tools means most skilled computer users can do, or be trained to do, the task. Two wrenches require “power user” technical skills, often found in the “Accidental Techie” on staff. Three wrenches will require a technical support person to do the work. Four wrenches means you will need a technical support person with significant skills in networking or security to undertake the practice.
+
+## :fire:
+This flame icon represents the amount of work flow disruption taking on this task entails, and consequently how much staff time for documentation, training and work shifts is required. One flame items will be mostly innocuous and staff can be trained in a brief session. Two flames means the practice will require more training and can disrupt existing work flows dramatically. Three flames signals that significant work flow shifts and training will be required to undertake the practice. Four flames means the task will disrupt work flow completely and is only for organizations where security is of far greater importance than efficiency or convenience.
diff --git a/4_email_safety_checklist.md b/4_email_safety_checklist.md
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+---
+document set: DIGITAL SECURITY CHECKLISTS FOR U.S. NON-PROFITS
+title: Email Safety Checklist
+author: Jonah Silas Sheridan, Lisa Jervis
+last modified: 11/18/2015
+version: "1.0, PEER REVIEWED VERSION FOR PUBLIC USE"
+---
+# Email Safety Checklist
+## Introduction
+
+This checklist provides a number of practices that can help protect you and your staff when using email to communicate. Before sending an email, ask yourself, would I put this on a postcard that might be kept forever? If the answer is no, consider using other means to communicate.
+
+Think about the emails you receive like a shut up envelope. If you don't know who sent it or what is in the envelope, you should open it very carefully. Especially since, in the case of email, it may contain viruses or other threats to your organization.
+
+**If performing work using sensitive or confidential information including that required to be protected by law (such as personal health information, employment records and credit card numbers) you are must avoid the use of regular (non-encrypted) email to communicate that information. Where email is your only communication option, you may need to implement an encryption scheme as found in the final checklist item below.**
+
+
+## Key
+:heavy_check_mark: Record actions
+:rocket: Difficulty rating
+:wrench: Technical skill level
+:fire: Work flow disruption
+
+## Email Safety Tasks
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Train your organization not to send sensitive or controversial information over email whenever possible.**
+:rocket::wrench::fire:
+*Information in these categories include but are not limited to credit card information, social security numbers, health information, organizational strategy, potentially damaging critiques or insults. Establish other practices for sharing this information such as instant messaging, secure downloads or plain old paper mail.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Use strong passwords for all email accounts; change them on a regular basis, and immediately if you have any suspicion of them being used by a third party.**
+:rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::fire::fire:
+*Strong passwords generally are made with a mix of letters, numbers and symbols and are as long as possible. Teach everyone in your organization how to generate and store strong passwords as well as how to reset their own passwords to critical accounts. Good passwords can be made a variety of ways. One recommended method which you can complete with standard household items is called [Diceware]("http://world.std.com/\~reinhold/diceware.html). See the [Authentication and Passwords Checklist]("5_authenication_checklist.md") in this document set for more recommendations in this area.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Learn to recognize suspicious behavior in your email account.**
+:rocket::wrench::fire:
+*Generally anything in your email unexpected should be looked at with suspicion. Be wary of any messages that ask you to do something, including clicking a link, opening an attachment or emailing back information. Be aware that it can be easy to fake email “From” addresses so notice any emails that don't match the usual style of the sender indicated in the “From” address. If someone has broken into your account you may see reply messages you don't understand, additional sent items, new folders or filters being created or other settings changes. Suspicious emails or account behavior should be reported to a technical support person and you should preemptively change your password.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Always login to email over a private connection** :rocket::rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::fire:
+
+*This means using an address that starts with https:// for webmail, and turning on mandatory SSL or TLS encryption in the settings of your email client. For GMail, connecting using a recent version of the Chrome or Firefox browser will ensure you have such a secure connection*
+
+*This practice will help ensure that someone operating on a network between you and your email server cannot read or alter your email in transit. Note that if your email is sent to someone outside of your organization you cannot control the connections between your email server and the recipients' servers nor how the recipients access the message so it is still vulnerable to attack. Because you control your organization and mail server, following this practice may improve the overall security of internal email but is not justification to send sensitive information using email internally or externally.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Where you can, implement two factor authentication for email accounts.**
+:rocket::rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::fire::fire::fire:
+
+*Many email providers have begun to offer login systems that rely on more that one piece of information to identify yourself. There can be several, but usually there are just two; your password and another code you have. Often this is a code sent by text message to your phone but can also be embedded on a special type of USB device, a program that generates codes on your phone or even a piece of paper with preprinted codes. Users will have to get used to having this extra step to login to new devices, but it protects from someone who obtains either item from getting into the account.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Don't send email attachments unless using encryption** :rocket::rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::wrench::fire::fire:
+*Unencrypted mail attachments are not protected from being viewed or altered between recipients, and they end to stay in email boxes where they are harder to control. Perhaps more important, regular use of attachments builds and encourages a culture of opening them automatically, which is a major source of viruses, malware and associated intrusions. A better practice is to have files on a server and send links to documents instead of the documents themselves. Ideally these links lead to locations that themselves are protected by passwords or other authentication, or are temporary and expire soon after use.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Be very careful clicking links or opening attachments in emails.**
+:rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::wrench::fire::fire:
+
+*Links, often innocuous looking or even hidden within emails, are a major way adversaries get rogue software inside networks. Before clicking a link or anywhere on an email, check that it points to a domain name (such as roadmapconsulting.org) that you recognize and expect (in most email programs, as on the web, hovering over a link displays the URL it points to). If not, check with the sender to make sure you aren't being scammed. Similarly, don't open an attachment unless you are expecting it and the filename is in line with that expectation. **NEVER** open links for files from unknown senders or in otherwise suspicious emails.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Don't send mass email from standard accounts; instead, use a third
+party service and if possible a dedicated mass email subdomain.**
+:rocket::rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::wrench::fire::fire:
+*Sending bulk email from regular email accounts can lead to all sorts of problems for mail delivery primarily by having your ip addresses, accounts or domain name marked, filtered or blocked as a source of spam. You may also wish to send bulk email using a separate domain name from your main email (such as list.roadmapconsulting.org) to further differentiate the traffic and reduce the risk of delivery problems for your regular emails. Additionally ensuring all email lists are opt-in (people have to confirm they want to receive them) and including instructions on how to discontinue them will minimize the chance of your emails being marked as spam by recipients.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Pay for a service to filter spam and viruses from email before it reaches your inbox**
+:rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::wrench::fire:
+
+*This service comes included if you use [GMail]("https://google.com/mail"), [Electric Embers]("https://electricembers.coop") but doesn't with all email services. Filtering mail before it reaches your network lessens the chance of a virus or malware bearing link or attachment being clicked on. After initial setup this service will be nearly invisible to staff, but requires that someone is tasked with dealing with false positives and other email delivery problems. Be aware, however, that this item involves a significant tradeoff: filtering means that another company is viewing your email before it reaches you and so may increase risk of that information being exposed. The [Electric Embers Cooperative] ("https://electricembers.coop/") is an ethically aligned provider which offers such a service specifically for non-profits.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Where email is accessed on mobile or laptop devices, configure email clients and web browser to store as little information as possible**
+:rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::wrench::fire::fire::fire::fire:
+*Most web browsers can and should be set to clear their cache when closed. Most email clients can be configured to not store email offline and to clear caches when closed. Both can be configured not to store passwords as well. By configuring both this way, a lost laptop or phone will potentially result in far less information disclosure. Note that it may also mean that you need to enter a password every time you start the program and cannot access emails when not connected to the Internet so may have extreme operational impact to your team. This practice can be made unnecessary by the use of hard drive encryption on your devices, which will be covered in the associated [Endpoint Protection Checklist]("#") which will be added to this document set in the future.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Establish an email phishing training and education program and test staff through live testing.**
+:rocket::rocket::rocket::rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::fire::fire::fire:
+*“Phishing” is where emails are crafted to look as legitimate as possible in order to get you to click a link or attachment. This is actually a social engineering attack more than a technical one, and so addressing the human element through education is the best way forward. Testing people by sending fake, innocuous phishing emails, is a hard task, but recommended to give people a chance to practice without bad consequences. Be careful as you can create a fear response rather than lasting motivation with this practice so try to be playful and emphasize the positives of these practices There are multiple companies that offer this training if you don't have internal capacity to provide it yourself. [Contact Information Ecology]("https://iecology.org/contact") for referrals.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Setup correct DKIM and SPF records for your email domains and subdomains**
+:rocket::rocket::rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::wrench::wrench::fire:
+*These are highly technical steps made in conjunction with your email and Domain Name Service providers to minimize the ability of spammers or phishers to fake emails from your organization. “Hard fail” settings are preferred for SPF records wherever possible. Once set up, this should have minimal impact on day to day operations, though it make changing your email provider or infrastructure more complex. Find more information at [the official DKIM website]("http://dkim.org/") and [the official SPF website] ("http://www.openspf.org/").*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Use PGP encryption to secure your email “end to end”**
+:rocket::rocket::rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::wrench::wrench::fire::fire::fire::fire:
+*This is a highly technical and labor-intensive initiative to undertake, but probably the most complete way to minimize any inadvertent disclosure of data through email. It will likely require significant changes to staff practices. The most common tools for using PGP encryption with email are the [Mozilla Thunderbird]("https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/") email client and the associated [Enigmail plugin]("https://www.enigmail.net/home/index.php"). You can find [a guide for that setup] at ("https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/thunderbird/windows") OSX's Mail program and open source add on [GPGTools] ("https://gpgtools.org") is also a workable tool set for using PGP encrypted email on Macs. Microsoft Outlook works best with a commercial add-on from [Symantec]("http://symantec.com") to use PGP encryption on Windows. For organizations with more resources, S/MIME is an alternate encryption scheme that works well with a Microsoft Exchange/Outlook environment or with GMail by installing the [Penango]("https://www.penango.com"). If interested in either of these solutions talk to your technical support provider and be prepared to invest some time and resources into planning, implementation and training.*
diff --git a/5_authentication_checklist.md b/5_authentication_checklist.md
new file mode 100644
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+---
+document set: DIGITAL SECURITY CHECKLISTS FOR U.S. NON-PROFITS
+title: Password and Authentication Safety Checklist
+author: Jonah Silas Sheridan, Lisa Jervis
+version: "1.0, PEER REVIEWED VERSION FOR PUBLIC USE"
+last modified: 11/18/2015
+---
+
+# Password and Authentication Safety Checklist
+
+## Introduction
+
+This checklist provides a number of practices that can help you and your staff better curate your organization's passwords and control who accesses your information. While passwords are the most common form of authentication (that is, proving your identity to a computer system), other systems are emerging that offer better protection. Some are mentioned below.
+
+In the recommendations below, the term “organizational” is used to identify the group of accounts that grant access to your organization's online identity, backups, administrative controls and other critical systems. These tend to be used infrequently, but are very powerful. As such these passwords should be treated different from “everyday” credentials (the set of passwords that staff members need to perform their regular duties using databases, communication tools, and other platforms used for daily work).
+
+## Key
+:heavy_check_mark: Record actions
+:rocket: Difficulty rating
+:wrench: Technical skill level
+:fire: Work flow disruption
+
+## Password and Authentication Safety Tasks
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Use strong passwords for all accounts, organizational and everyday**
+:rocket::wrench::fire:
+*Strong passwords are generally longer that 8 characters, use a mix of symbols, numbers and both upper and lowercase letters, and do not include any dictionary words or personal information.*
+
+*There are many ways to generate strong passwords. There is an online guide to creating passwords as part of the the excellent [Security In a Box website]("https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/passwords"). Most password managers will also make a random password for you, as will other available software for that specific purpose.*
+
+*[Diceware]("http://world.std.com/~reinhold/diceware.html") is a fun and effective scheme for creating random passwords using everyday objects and a word list. If you trust a service's password reset process and it uses an email address that you are certain you will control in the future you can make and immediately forget a long random password for a site you seldom use or will never use again.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Don't use the same password for more than one site or service**
+:rocket::wrench::fire::fire:
+*Following this practice is a great way to minimize the risk of using third party technology services. If you don't reuse passwords someone learning your username and password for one service through a leak or break-in won't make it easy to access the other accounts you use. Use different passwords for each service so you aren't relying
+on the provider to protect your most important secret.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Try to limit written password storage**
+:rocket::wrench::fire:
+*Instead use techniques found in the Security In a Box online guide listed above to create memorable but strong passwords. If you initially need a written copy of your password, protect it physically by storing it someplace where it won't be lost, stolen and easily identified with you. Try to type your password with less looking at the copy each time, and destroy the paper copy when you have memorized the password.If you are having trouble memorizing passwords, use a password manager as indicated below.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Do not tell anyone else your password(s), ever**
+:rocket::wrench::fire:
+*Even if someone claims to be from IT or technical support, do not give them your password. Nearly every system allows for administrative reset of passwords for maintenance. This creates an auditable trail that you account was accessed and alerts you as well. Although changing your password afterwards is an extra step, it will ensure that you and only you have access to your digital information and that you can know who in your organization is responsible for what changes*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Consider making single use passwords for sites you rarely use**
+:rocket::wrench::fire::fire:
+*If you need to create an account for something that you do not expect to use frequently and where you can reset the password easily by email, you may just wish to generate a very long random string of numbers, letters and symbols and not record it anywhere or remember it. Most password managers will make a random password for you, as will other available software for that specific purpose. This service will now have a password stronger than if you made one and tried to remember it.*
+
+*The next time you need to login to that service you can hit the “forgot password link” to get a login link and repeat the process. This is a little slower , perhaps, than a stored password but the benefit is that you will never leak your password for that tool – because you don't know it! Of course you wouldn't do this with an account you use all the time or where the password reset process is difficult or uses an email address you may not always have access to - but it is useful to ease the password management load. Recognize that this reduces the security of the account using a “single use” password to the security of the associated email account (since you use that to get back into the service) so that email account's password needs to be strong and memorable.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Have all staff use password manager software**
+:rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::fire::fire::fire:
+*There are many passwords associated with modern work flows. Because they could be used to disrupt your work in various ways passwords need to be protected. They shouldn't be stored in spreadsheets, text files or word processor documents (even password protected ones as they are simple to break open).*
+
+*Instead password manager software is available which stores all of your passwords in a secure file and can easily take care of all of the checklist items above. You just remember a single password to open that
+file up and then can have an array of unique, complex passwords for all your services.*
+
+*KeePass and KeePassX use the same encrypted file format, can run on most any computer and so are recommended password managers. Security In a Box also has a [KeePass overview]("https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/keepass/windows")
+
+*Web browsers are insecure environments for password storage and handling, but their central role in many organizations has made web-based tools for password management very popular. Evaluating online services and their current security claims is outside of the scope of this document. We acknowledge that online password management tools often have adequate security levels for many organizations' everyday password handling needs; however,the benefits do not outweigh the risks when storing rarely used core organizational passwords or other highly sensitive information.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Separate organizational and everyday passwords**
+:rocket::rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::fire::fire::fire:
+*Organizational passwords include any passwords that grant
+administrative control of your organization's information systems or online identity. These are very powerful credentials and so should be stored separately from passwords that just get staff into their personal user accounts. You can do this by making a separate login or file in your password manager application, or by choosing a completely different manager altogether.*
+
+*Placing organizational passwords in a KeePass or otherwise encrypted file that only a few key staff members can access will lessen the risks of adopting an online password manager for everyday passwords, but will also place a burden on those staff members. Balancing these needs should be factored in your decision.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Set minimum password lengths and enforce complexity rules on services where you can do so, and regularly monitor user password strength.**
+:rocket::rocket::rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::wrench::wrench::fire::fire::fire:
+*On many platforms including Windows Active Directory and Google Apps you can set controls at an administrative level to ensure people use strong passwords. It takes some advance planning and staff training, as setting up these controls without being clear on the implications can
+lock people out of their computers or work files . In addition, someone will need to be designated as the point person for resolving problems that arise from these controls. This step does however improve the security of all users at one time so is highly recommended.*
diff --git a/6_public_wireless_checklist.md b/6_public_wireless_checklist.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..953c3f9419feacda2cf74902fbbf5271342a0592
--- /dev/null
+++ b/6_public_wireless_checklist.md
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+---
+document set: DIGITAL SECURITY CHECKLISTS FOR U.S. NON-PROFITS
+title: Password and Authentication Safety Checklist
+author: Jonah Silas Sheridan, Lisa Jervis
+last modified: 11/18/2015
+version: "1.0, PEER REVIEWED VERSION FOR PUBLIC USE"
+---
+
+# Public Wireless Network Safety Checklist
+
+## Introduction
+This checklist provides a number or practices that can help protect you and your staff when using publicly available wireless networks such as those in hotels, cafés and airports. Because there are so many ways that wireless networks can be compromised, this checklist is not exhaustive. You are always safest on networks you own and/or control.
+
+**If performing work using sensitive or confidential information including that required to be protected by law (such as personal health information) you are best off avoiding the use of public networks for those tasks.**
+
+**Key:**
+:heavy_check_mark: Record actions
+:rocket: Difficulty rating
+:wrench: Technical skill level
+:fire: Work flow disruption
+
+## Public Wireless Network Safety Tasks
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Keep all web browser software, including extensions, updated to the latest version. Prefer Firefox or Chrome browsers. Only use Internet Explorer and Safari when required.**
+:rocket::wrench::fire:
+*Internet Explorer has had a much higher incidence of vulnerabilities than Chrome and Firefox while Safari has suffered some recent security concerns. Although nearly all of the latest browsers support “certificate pinning” which makes it harder to intercept secure connections, [Chrome]("https://google.com/chrome") and [Firefox]("https://getfirefox.com/") have led the development of this important feature.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Install the HTTPS Everywhere extension for all of the web browsers you use on your system.**
+:rocket::wrench::fire:
+
+*This step will help ensure that more sites you visit and information you submit to them cannot be seen by others on the wireless network or the operator of the network itself.You can install that plugin from [this page]
+("https://www.eff.org/HTTPS-EVERYWHERE").*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Install Privacy Badger, a browser add-on which will limit the “cookies” - small persistent chunks of information - set on your computer by websites**
+:rocket::wrench::fire:
+
+*Privacy Badger is software produced by the non-profit [Electronic Frontier Foundation] ("https://eff.org") to help reduce the privacy breaches and tracking that come with the use of cookies. These cookies can be transferred insecurely so can, if poorly implemented, expose login credentials or other information in transit. As an extra benefit, you will increase you privacy and lessen your online tracking as a result of using this software. Download it [here]("https://privacybadger.org.").*
+
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Prefer wireless networks that use a password, ideally a unique one for each person connecting, and preferably using WPA or WPA2 encryption rather than WEP encryption.**
+:rocket::wrench::fire:
+
+*A password on a wireless network means the information moving across it
+is less easily captured and decoded by someone nearby. If everyone has a
+unique password this gets even harder. WPA and WPA2 offer stronger
+protection than WEP, which is now relatively easily compromised. You can
+easily view what encryption is in use on most computers. In OSX, hold
+down the Option key and click the wireless indicator in the top right
+corner to reveal extra information about each wireless network. The
+method for viewing these details is different in each version of Windows
+so ask your tech support provider for assistance for the software you
+use..*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Confirm the network details before you connect.**
+:rocket::rocket::wrench::fire:
+
+*An attacker can setup an access point with a name similar or identical to a legitimate one, so that you connect to it instead of the network you intend. Make sure to ask the proprietor of a public network what the network name and password are, and connect to the network with that name that accepts that password. This doesn't completely guarantee that the network you are connecting to isn't hostile or compromised, but it makes the difficulty of hijacking your connection much higher.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Turn off the built-in file sharing functionality on your computer or device**
+:rocket::wrench::fire::fire:
+*Although handy for sharing files with peers, the built-in file sharing functionality on your computer is vulnerable to abuse or accidental information leakage. It is preferable to set up alternate tools and practices for sharing files, such as a central file repository.*
+
+*To turn off file sharing on a Mac, go to Apple menu \> System Preferences, then click Sharing and make sure all the boxes are unchecked. See [this article]("https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/307874") for turning off file sharing on a Windows computer.*
+
+*Recognize that if you are currently using the built-in file sharing functionality to share files inside an office, doing this will disrupt current work practices.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Turn on your computer's firewall and disallow all external connections**
+:rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::fire::fire:
+*A firewall prevents unauthorized connections from other computers on the wireless network. There is a built in firewall in every computer, but it is not turned on by default and may allow connections to certain services. The firewall settings can be found on Macs in System Preferences > Security. On Windows computers, the firewall settings are in the System and Security tool in Control Panel. More information about Windows Firewall can be found [here] ("http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/firewalls-using.aspx")*
+
+
+:heavy_check_mark: **Ensure that the wireless network is not presenting false certificates**
+:rocket::rocket::rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::wrench::fire::fire::fire:
+*Increasingly, networks are set up to monitor traffic for various reasons such as ad placement or content filtering. However, this potentially compromises all secure connections, as it allows traffic to be monitored via the same mechanism in what is called a Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attack. The network device will replace the security certificate from the service you are connecting to with one of its own. Anyone with access to that device can see any communication between you and that service. Learning to view certificates in your web browser, or installing and learning to use a tool such as Certificate Patrol (available only for Firefox [here]("http://patrol.psyced.org/") will help you identify certificate changes but also causes many alert windows to appear.*
+
+*Google has created [a document]("https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95617?hl=en")on viewing certificate information in Chrome. Mozilla has [a similar document]("https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/secure-website-certificate
+") for Firefox as well as some [overall instructions] ("https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-tell-if-my-connection-is-secure") on connection security that you may wish to review.*
+
+:heavy_check_mark:
+**Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to securely tunnel out of public networks**
+:rocket::rocket::rocket::rocket::wrench::wrench::wrench::wrench::fire::fire::fire:
+
+*A VPN creates a secure connection for your computers to use to access the office network and the Internet. This connection, or tunnel, can be used to hide all information moving from your computers to the Internet or office network from the operator or other users of the wireless network. Use of a VPN severely limits the amount of trust you have to place in the owner and operator of the network you are on and so limits your exposure to them. These factors make VPNs a very effective way to protect your self on untrusted networks.*
+
+*A VPN is implemented via a device you own located in your office or at an offsite facility, or that a third party provides you use of for a fee. Choosing a VPN provider and setting up computers to use it are not simple tasks, and critically important – a misstep in setup or use can expose your information or bring your work to a crawl. In addition VPNs add a layer of network traffic and will slow down your Internet access so your distance to and bandwidth available from your VPN provider (or office if hosting your own) will make a difference to performance.*
+
+*Consider if the speed tradeoff is acceptable to you before choosing to implement a VPN. If you do, the investment in implementation, setup and hassle is repaid by a solution that increases connection security across many situations.*
diff --git a/7_glossary.md b/7_glossary.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..48a08fa8e8df77f6db37139032bc7482dbebf37a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/7_glossary.md
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+---
+document set: DIGITAL SECURITY CHECKLISTS FOR U.S. NON-PROFITS
+title: Glossary
+author: Jonah Silas Sheridan, Lisa Jervis
+version: "1.0, PEER REVIEWED VERSION FOR PUBLIC USE"
+last modified: 11/18/2015
+---
+
+# Digital Security Glossary
+
+**Backup**
+Regularly updated copies of your digital assets, ideally stored in several different places, so that if access to or integrity of your data is disrupted for any reason (damage to computers due to accident or natural disaster, accidental or malicious deletion of files,etc.), the assets can be restored. Online backup services such as Mozy and CrashPlan are best supplemented by backups stored on organizational equipment and in secure offsite storage.
+
+**Cookies**
+Small files placed on your computer by websites that youvisit; they are used to manage website features such as logins and can also be used to track behavior on the web. While not all cookies are a security risk, if poorly implemented they can expose the informationthey contain. More information about cookies is available at [http://www.allaboutcookies.org/]("http://www.allaboutcookies.org/").
+
+**Digital assets**
+Any and all data electronically stored or used by your organization. This includes your organization's files, website,emails, social media accounts, online banking accounts, etc. Some of these items may be ones that you administer yourself (e.g., the contents of staff hard drives, file repositories stored on servers owned and controlled by your organization); others may be maintained by third-party services on your behalf (e.g., files on Google Drive orBox). Others are services that you participate in that are owned and controlled by others (subject to terms of service), such as organizational Facebook pages.
+
+**DKIM records**
+DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is a system to protect email from abuse, both from forged sender addresses and from content alteration. The system operates at the server level so requires help from your email provider to setup.
+
+**Domain Name System.**
+The domain name system (DNS) is like a phone book for the Internet. It translates domain names (such as iecology.org or reddit.com) into the numbers (ip addresses) used to find services on the Internet. It can also be used to store other information about your organization's information systems, such as SPF records or DKIM keys.
+
+**Encryption**
+A mechanism by which your data scrambled in order to protect it from being read by unauthorized parties. Authorized parties are able to decrypt (i.e., unscramble) it. There are many different ways to encrypt communications and other digital assets.
+
+**Encryption Key.**
+An encryption key is a piece of information that you share with an authorized party so they can encrypt and/or decrypt information to or from you. In most cases this information is highly sensitive and needs to be protected however modern encryption schemes allow you to have a “public” key that you can safely share with anyone.
+
+**Extensions**
+Small pieces of software that you install as part of your web browser in order to give your browser additional capabilities.
+
+**Firewall.**
+A piece of software or hardware device that analyzes and selectively blocks or alters information passing between two networks.Common places to find firewalls are between your office network and the Internet and on your computer to protect you from other computers on your office network.
+
+**Office network**
+The equipment in your office that allows staff computers to connect to each other, on site resources such as fileservers and to the Internet. If you cannot trust that nobody else is controlling this network your security progress will be compromised.
+
+**Password manager software**
+Software that keeps your passwords in an encrypted format, protected by a master password. This allows you to store multiple passwords by remembering only one. Password managers are available as software that you install (e.g., KeePass) and as a web-based service (e.g., LastPass). While web-based password managers can be secure enough to hold the passwords staff use to access their accounts for everyday purposes, they are not recommended to store the passwords that grant administrative access to core organizational systems.
+
+**Security certificates**
+Security certificates are a specific kind of file that includes an encryption key, and often times additional information about that key. Websites such as used for banking and other services frequently use them to allow you to establish a secure connection with their servers.
+
+**SPF records**
+Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a system that allows you to tell others what servers and services are allowed to send email for your organization's domain name. Setting up this record requires the assistance of your DNS provider and can have unintended negative consequences for your email delivery if not properly done.
+
+**Virtual Private Network (VPN)**
+A connection between computers or devices that allows them to exchange information in an encrypted form. This can allow you to both “tunnel out of” a network you don't trust or to get you access to information on your office network from someplace else on the Internet.
+
+**Wireless Access Point.**
+A wireless access point (WAP) is a piece of hardware configured to host a wireless network. In many small networks the WAP will also be a firewall separating the network from the rest of the Internet.
+
+**WEP, WPA and WPA2**
+All are methods of encrypting wireless network traffic between a device like a computer or phone and a wireless access point. WEP is an older encryption method and it is far less secure than WPA and WPA2, which are newer methods.
diff --git a/checklists.md b/checklists.md
deleted file mode 100644
index a2dba2f40f156059ebeace31f3d9c4280600bd64..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/checklists.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,1318 +0,0 @@
-\
-
-\
-
-\
-
-**PEER REVIEWED VERSION****–****FOR PUBLIC USE**
-
-DIGITAL SECURITYCHECKLISTS FOR U.S. NON-PROFITS
-
-Version 1.0
-
-\
-\
-
-**What is this document set?**
-
-This set of documents was made to help small non-profits and NGOs
-improve their digital security outcomes despite limited resources and
-technical skill availability. The content was commissioned as part of
-the Weathering The Storms initiative of RoadMap Consulting and fiscally
-sponsored by Common Counsel Foundation of Oakland, California. The
-content was researched and prepared by Jonah Silas Sheridan and Lisa
-Jervis, Principals of Information Ecology, a capacity building
-consultancy specializing in non-profit and movement technology
-management and peer reviewed by generous members of our community. Many
-other eyes and hands have helped tune the recommendations to ensure
-technical accuracy and ease of use. We are grateful to all the members
-of our community that have helped bring these documents to life.
-
-**About digital security**
-
-The typical technical definition of digital security says that it is the
-set of processes and practices used to **manage the risk**of an
-**adversary**exploiting **vulnerabilities** in your systems such that
-they may become a **threat**to the **confidentiality**, **integrity**,
-or **availability**of **digital assets** (e.g., file stores, cloud
-services, emails) or communication **channels** (e.g., instant
-messaging, telephone, video chats). What does that really mean? It means
-digital security is the work of protecting your organization's
-information from being accessed, changed, or blocked by anyone—internal
-or external, intentionally or not—who shouldn't be able to do so.
-Effective security strategies, digital or operational are based on the
-specific threats, vulnerabilities, and adversaries of your organization.
-This does not mean that a detailed analysis is necessary to get started
-improving your digital security practices. Many small U.S. organizations
-share a set of basic threats and vulnerabilities, which these documents
-are meant to help them address.
-
-All security practices require a **strong organizational commitment**,
-as they dictate changes to how you and your team work together, in
-addition to demanding ongoing attention to ensure that software and
-practices are regularly updated and working properly. The more you can
-understand about the threats your organization faces, the better you can
-select and commit to practices that will be useful for protecting your
-organization and its operating environment.
-
-We have identified solutions and practices across a range of levels of
-technical skill and organizational commitment. The effectiveness of
-these practices to protect from real threats is directly correlated with
-the level of investment you make in implementing them. With current
-tools, security measures are nearly always at odds with convenience. The
-more you can understand what actual threats there are to your systems
-the more directed (and therefore less impactful to operations) your
-security practices will be. In this was you assure that the more you put
-in to securing your systems, the more you will lower your risk of bad
-outcomes.
-
-**Why digital security checklists?**
-
-While computers have revolutionized how non-profits work, the last
-several years have begun to reveal to the general public the many risks
-associated with digital communication and information storage. While all
-organizations want to protect their information—and that of their
-partners and allies—few have a strong understanding of the relevant
-risks and most effective responses. These checklists represent
-recommendations for a set of baseline digital security practices. They
-have been created as a harm reduction step in response to incident
-reports, current research and community feedback about the threats faced
-by non-profits' computer systems.
-
-The public-health concept of harm reduction is a useful approach to any
-situation for which a perfect solution is not available. Despite being
-an incomplete solution, regular hand washing is an important part of
-limiting the risk of getting certain illnesses. Similarly a set of
-standard best practices represented by checklists cannot mitigate all
-risks, yet they can help protect you and your organization from some of
-the serious threats that come with using computers to manage your
-information. These checklists are meant as a starting point in
-understanding and responding to the most basic threats computer users
-face today. They are a necessary first step to secure our movements.
-They are not sufficient for those of us working in extremely hostile
-environments, for instance against highly repressive regimes and in
-risky areas like conflict journalism; in no case should they be a
-substitute for a more aggressive security response where warranted.
-
-\
-\
-
-**What these checklists are not (and cannot be)**
-
-Effective security is an ongoing process. It requires consistent
-practices to be undertaken by all staff, periodic review and adjustment
-to practices, and strong leadership from board and senior staff. Every
-organization faces a specific set of threats to its information, some of
-which may be completely outside the digital realm (e.g., infiltration of
-organizing meetings by a political adversary). As no set of checklists
-can address all situations, these checklists do not represent a complete
-solution for securing your organization.
-
-\
-\
-
-It is also important to recognize that security and convenience are
-generally at odds. Most security practices, both in the digital realm
-and the “real world,” consist of trade-offs between security and
-efficiency. Following the checklist recommendations will generally not
-make your work smoother and easier. Instead, many will likely create
-some disruption and training needs. In order to make meaningful strides
-in security, your organization must be prepared to make these trade-offs
-whether steep or shallow. These investments in time and attention will
-repay the organization in decreased risk to critical data and systems.
-
-\
-\
-
-Who these checklists are for
-
-Due to the variety of threats, vulnerabilities, and adversaries that
-arise in different contexts of geopolitics and scale, the
-recommendations in these checklists apply only to organizations meeting
-the following criteria:
-
-- The organization has one or more primary locations in the United
- States each with an office network that allows staff computers to
- connect to each other, internal services and the Internet. Each
- internal network is trusted to be free from outside interference and
- is segmented from the open Internet or hosting organizations'
- networks by a firewall device.
-
-- The organization can successfully protect physical access to its
- office spaces and office network equipment.
-
-- These office networks do not host any websites or other information
- resources that are meant to accessible to all users on the public
- Internet (as opposed to resources such as printers and file servers
- that are available only to users who are connected to the office
- network).
-
-- The organization uses primarily Windows or Mac computers with some
- limited use of mobile devices to access its information systems.
-
-- Although the organization may communicate with partners abroad, its
- staff do not cross international borders while carrying the
- organization's equipment or data nor regularly work in a foreign
- country.
-
-- The organization is broadly seeking to protect itself from security
- threats from non-persistent general adversaries with limited
- resources (e.g., disgruntled individuals, identity thieves,
- political opponents, internal threats) rather than the U.S.
- government, other governments or other large global entities
- including multinational corporations.
-
-If these assumptions don't apply to you, these recommendations are
-inadequate; a more rigorous information security approach, in
-partnership with a provider of professional security services, is
-strongly recommended. Contact RoadMap for help or referrals .
-
-How to use these checklists
-
-\
-\
-
-The items on these checklists are meant to be actionable and accessible;
-each checklist item includes a brief explanation of what it means as
-well as, where possible, next steps for implementation. The icons
-accompanying each item will help you identify how difficult, disruptive
-and costly a given step might be to undertake.
-
-The first checklist deals with Digital Security Readiness. If you cannot
-check off the items on that list, your organization should concentrate
-first on building the capacity to address these foundational elements
-before undertaking additional digital security improvements.
-
-\
-\
-
-Digital Security Readiness Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-**This checklist contains baseline, ongoing information systems and
-technology practices that your organization must already have in place
-in order to successfully take on a digital security initiative. If you
-cannot check off more than 75% of the items in the list below, it is
-recommended you focus on meeting these baselines before proceeding with
-other digital security work. Even if at 75% or above, be sure to note
-the unmarked items and make plans to implement them as soon as possible,
-as not doing so will likely undermine your security efforts.**
-
-Digital Security Readiness Tasks
-
-✔
-
-**Have regular and adequate technical support provided either by staff
-assigned via job description or contracted with outside agencies.**
-
-*If your existing hardware and software are not well supported,
-introducing new tools and practices will likely meet with significant
-barriers, as new technologies and tools often demand significant ongoing
-technical support for proper setup and functioning. There are as many
-ways to secure technical support as there are organizations. Talking to
-peer organizations in your area is a good way to find quality help.*
-
-\
-
-**Have a culture of training and learning, including strong technology
-training and follow up as part of new staff orientation procedures.**
-
-*New tools and practices demand end user training. If your organization
-doesn't have established practices around training, implementing
-improved and possibly complex secure practices is nearly impossible.
-Beginning with documentation and training for new hires is a wise first
-step in this area. Following up with new employees at 30 day intervals
-will ensure they continue to get the support they need to do their work
-effectively and securely.*
-
-\
-
-**Have a common and clearly communicated set of information systems that
-all staff use effectively.**
-
-*If your staff are using personal file-sharing, email, task management,
-or other accounts without knowledge or guidance from the organization,
-not only will your efficiency suffer but the environment becomes
-impractical to secure. How can you protect things you have no access to
-at an administrative level or, worse yet, don't even know are in use?*
-
-\
-
-**Have a recurrent line item for technology in your budget**
-
-*Security is an ongoing process and will require ongoing investments in
-computer equipment and software to be effective. Work with your
-technical support provider to determine an appropriate amount to put
-into this line item.*
-
-\
-
-**Provide relatively new and adequately powered computers to all staff**
-
-*Industry standard best practice is to replace laptops and desktops
-every 3 to 5 years. Encryption tools use a lot of power and can bring
-older, inadequately powered computers to a near halt, making some
-security steps untenable for staff. Money for replacing 1/3 to 1/5 of
-your computers each year should be part of your recurring technology
-budgeting.*
-
-\
-
-**Have some baseline non-technical security practices**
-
-*If you do not control your office space and access to your computers,
-your other digital security steps can be easily circumvented by walking
-into your office. Rotate alarm system codes, door codes, wireless
-network passwords and other sensitive access procedures such as
-emergency building access when staff leave the organization.*
-
-\
-
-**Make sure the computers and other devices you use, including personal
-devices that staff may use to access organizational information, are not
-compromised by malware, viruses or other intrusive software.**
-
-\
-
-*As a first step, ensure you are running antivirus software on all
-computers*
-
-*Antivirus software for Macs and Windows computers is available to
-non-profits at a discounted rate through Tech Soup
-(**http://techsoup.org**). If you haven't been running antivirus
-software or otherwise aren't sure about the status of your devices, you
-can have the operating system (OS) on it reinstalled to help guarantee
-the computer is free of malware and viruses. If reinstalling, use a copy
-from the OS provider, NOT the computer manufacturer, as manufacturers
-often bundle dangerous software in their installs. There are other ways
-in which yoru devices can be compromised which will not be remedied by
-OS install. If you suspect such an issue, get a new computer and call a
-security professional.*
-
-\
-
-**Have a disaster recovery plan that includes making regular backups of
-organizational data that are stored away from your main offices. Do not
-rely exclusively on third parties to back up and hold your
-information.**
-
-*This actually is a digital security practice itself, but
-straightforward and critical enough that it needs to come before any
-other digital security steps. Talk to your technical support provider
-about the status of your backups. Refer to the guide at the following
-link for ideas on how to improve your disaster preparedness
-http://www.techsoup.org/disaster-planning-and-recovery*
-
-\
-
-Legend: What the icons mean
-
-
-
-This icon flags columns for you to record actions you have taken. Check
-them off as you go!
-
-\
-\
-
-
-
-This icon represents the overall difficulty rating for a checklist item.
-One star items should be doable by most technology capable
-organizations. Items with two stars may require some outside assistance
-and work flow shifts. Three stars will require significant
-organizational commitment of resources and technical assistance. Items
-with four stars are only for organizations ready to take on advanced
-security practices, including the ongoing commitment of human and other
-resources needed to make them effective.
-
-\
-\
-
-
-
-This icon represents the amount of technical skill needed to undertake
-the practice. One set of tools means most skilled computer users can do,
-or be trained to do, the task. Two sets of tools require “power user”
-technical skills, often found in the “Accidental Techie” on staff. Three
-sets of tools will require a technical support person to do the work.
-Four sets of tools means you will need a technical support person with
-significant skills in networking or security to undertake the practice.
-
-\
-\
-
-
-
-This icon represents the amount of work flow disruption taking on this
-task entails, and consequently how much staff time for documentation,
-training and work shifts is required. One lightning bolt items will be
-mostly innocuous and staff can be trained in a brief session. Two
-lightning bolts means the practice will require more training and can
-disrupt existing work flows dramatically. Three lightning bolts signals
-that significant work flow shifts and training will be required to
-undertake the practice. Four lightning bolts means the task will disrupt
-work flow completely and is only for organizations where security is of
-far greater importance than efficiency or convenience.
-
-Email Safety Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-This checklist provides a number of practices that can help protect you
-and your staff when using email to communicate. Before writing an email,
-ask yourself, would I put this on a postcard that might be kept forever?
-If the answer is no, consider using other means to communicate.
-
-Think about email you receive like a shut up envelope. If you don't know
-who sent it or what is in the envelope, you should open it very
-carefully. Especially since, in the case of email, it may contain
-viruses or other threats to your organization.
-
-**If performing work using sensitive or confidential information
-including that required to be protected by law (such as personal health
-information, employment records and credit card numbers) you are must
-avoid the use of regular (non-encrypted) email to communicate that
-information. Where email is your only communication option, you may need
-to implement an encryption scheme as found in the final checklist item
-below.**
-
- Record actions ****Difficulty rating ****Technical skill level
-****Work flow disruption
-
-Email Safety Tasks
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Train your organization not to send sensitive or controversial
-information over email whenever possible.**
-
-*Information in these categories include but are not limited to credit
-card information, social security numbers, health information,
-organizational strategy, potentially damaging critiques or insults.
-Establish other practices for sharing this information such as instant
-messaging, secure downloads or plain old paper mail.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use strong passwords for all email accounts; change them on a regular
-basis, and immediately if you have any suspicion of them being used by a
-third party**
-
-*Strong passwords generally are made with a mix of letters, numbers and
-symbols and are as long as possible. Teach everyone in your organization
-how to generate and store strong passwords as well as how to reset their
-own passwords to critical accounts. Good passwords can be made a variety
-of ways. One recommended method is called Diceware:
-http://world.std.com/\~reinhold/diceware.html*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Learn to recognize suspicious behavior in your email account.**
-
-*Generally anything in your email unexpected should be looked at with
-suspicion. Be wary of any messages that ask you to do something,
-including clicking a link, opening an attachment or emailing back
-information. Be aware that it can be easy to fake email “From” addresses
-so notice any emails that don't match the usual style of the sender
-indicated in the “From” address. If someone has broken into your account
-you may see reply**messages**you don't understand, additional sent
-items, new folders or filters being created or other settings changes.
-Suspicious emails or account behavior should be reported to a technical
-support person and you should preemptively change your password.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Always login to email over a private connection**
-
-*This means using an address that starts with https:// for webmail, and
-turning on mandatory STARTTLS , SSL or TLS encryption in the settings of
-your email client. For GMail, connecting using a recent version of the
-Chrome or Firefox browser will ensure you have such a secure
-connection.*
-
-*This practice will help ensure that someone operating on a network
-between you and your email server cannot read or alter your email in
-transit. Note that if your email is sent to someone outside of your
-organization you cannot control the connections between your email
-server and the recipients' servers nor how the recipients access the
-message so it is still vulnerable to attack. to .Because you control
-your organization and mail server, following this practice may improve
-the overall security of internal email but is not justification to send
-sensitive information using email internally or externally.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Where you can, implement two factor authentication for email
-accounts.**
-
-*Many email providers have begun to offer login systems that rely on
-more that one piece of information to identify yourself. There can be
-several, but usually there are just two; your password and another code
-you have. Often this is a code sent by text message to your phone but
-can also be embedded on a special type of USB device, a program that
-generates codes on your phone or even a piece of paper with preprinted
-codes. Users will have to get used to having this extra step to login to
-new devices, but it protects from someone who obtains either item from
-getting into the account.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Don't send email attachments unless using encryption***Unencrypted
-mail attachments are not protected from being viewed or altered between
-recipients, and they end to stay in email boxes where they are harder to
-control. Perhaps more important, regular use of attachments builds and
-encourages a culture of opening them automatically, which is a major
-source of viruses, malware and associated intrusions. A better practice
-is to have files on a server and send links to documents instead of the
-documents themselves. Ideally these links lead to locations that
-themselves are protected by passwords or other authentication, or are
-temporary and expire soon after use.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Be very careful clicking links or opening attachments in emails.**
-
-*Links, often innocuous looking or even hidden within emails, are a
-major way adversaries get rogue software inside networks. Before
-clicking a link or anywhere on an email, check that it points to a
-domain name (such as roadmapconsulting.org) that you recognize and
-expect (in most email programs, as on the web, hovering over a link
-displays the URL it points to). If not, check with the sender to make
-sure you aren't being scammed. Similarly, don't open an attachment
-unless you are expecting it and the filename is in line with that
-expectation.****NEVER****open links for files from unknown senders or in
-otherwise suspicious emails.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Don't send mass email from standard accounts; instead, use a third
-party service and if possible a dedicated mass email subdomain.**
-
-*Sending bulk email from regular email accounts can lead to all sorts of
-problems for mail delivery primarily by having your accounts or domain
-name marked as a source of spam. You may also wish to send bulk email
-using a separate domain name from your main email (such as
-comms.roadmapconsulting.org) to further differentiate the traffic and
-reduce the risk of delivery problems for your regular emails.
-Additionally ensuring all email lists are opt-in (people have to confirm
-they want to receive them) and including instructions on how to
-discontinue them will minimize the chance of your emails being marked as
-spam by recipients.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Pay for a service to filter spam and viruses from email before it
-reaches your inbox**
-
-*This service comes included if you use Gmail, but doesn't with all
-email services. Filtering mail before it reaches your network lessens
-the chance of a virus or malware bearing link or attachment being
-clicked on. After initial setup this service will be nearly invisible to
-staff, but requires that someone is tasked with dealing with false
-positives and other email delivery problems. Be aware, however, that
-this item involves a significant tradeoff: filtering means that another
-company is viewing your email before it reaches you and so may increase
-risk of that information being exposed. The Electric Embers Cooperative
-(*[*http://electricembers.coop*](http://electricembers.coop/)*) offers
-such a service specifically for non-profits.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Where email is accessed on mobile or laptop devices, configure email
-clients and web browser to store as little information as possible**
-
-*Most web browsers can and should be set to clear their cache when
-closed. Most email clients can be configured to not store email offline
-and to clear caches when closed. Both can be configured not to store
-passwords as well. By configuring both this way, a lost laptop or phone
-will potentially result in far less information disclosure. Note that it
-may also mean that you need to enter a password every time you start the
-program and cannot access emails when not connected to the Internet so
-may have extreme operational impact to your team*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Establish an email phishing training and education program and test
-staff through live testing.**
-
-“*Phishing” is where emails are crafted to look as legitimate as
-possible in order to get you to click a link or attachment. This is
-actually a social engineering attack more than a technical one, and so
-addressing the human element through education is the best way forward.
-Testing people by sending fake, innocuous phishing emails, is a hard
-task, but recommended to give people a chance to practice without bad
-consequences. There are multiple companies that offer this training if
-you don't have internal capacity to provide it yourself. Contact RoadMap
-for referrals.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Setup correct DKIM and SPF records for your email domains and
-subdomains**
-
-*These are highly technical steps made in conjunction with your email
-and Domain Name Service providers to minimize the ability of spammers or
-phishers to fake emails from your organization. “Hard fail” settings are
-preferred for SPF records wherever possible. Once set up, this should
-have minimal impact on day to day operations, though it make changingo
-your email provider or infrastructure more complex. Find more
-information at*[*http://dkim.org*](http://dkim.org/)*and
-http://www.openspf.org/.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use PGP encryption to secure your email “end to end”**
-
-*This is a highly technical and labor-intensive initiative to undertake,
-but probably the most complete way to minimize any inadvertent
-disclosure of data through email. It will likely require significant
-changes to staff practices. The most common tools for using PGP
-encryption with email are the Mozilla Thunderbird email client and the
-associated Enigmail plugin . You can find a guide for that setup
-at*[*https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/thunderbird/windows*](https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/thunderbird/windows)*OSX's
-Mail program and open source add on GPGTools
-(*[*https://gpgtools.org*](https://gpgtools.org/)*) is also a workable
-tool set for using PGP encrypted email on Macs. Outlook requires a
-commercial add-on from Symantec to use PGP encryption on Windows. For
-organizations with more resources, S/MIME is an alternate encryption
-scheme that works well with a Microsoft Exchange/Outlook environment. If
-interested in either of these solutions talk to your technical support
-provider and be prepared to invest some time and resources into
-planning, implementation and training.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-\
-
-Password and Authentication Safety Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-This checklist provides a number of practices that can help you and your
-staff better curate your organization's passwords and control who
-accesses your information. While passwords are the most common form of
-authentication (that is, proving your identity to a computer system),
-other systems are emerging that offer better protection. Some are
-mentioned below.
-
-In the recommendations below, the term “organizational” is used to
-identify the group of accounts that grant access to your organization's
-online identity, backups, administrative controls and other critical
-systems. These tend to be used infrequently, but are very powerful. As
-such these passwords should be treated different from “everyday”
-credentials (the set of passwords that staff members need to perform
-their regular duties using databases, communication tools, and other
-platforms used for daily work).
-
-\
-\
-
- Record actions ****Difficulty rating ****Technical skill level
-****Work flow disruption
-
-Password and Authentication Safety Tasks
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use strong passwords for all accounts, organizational and everyday**
-
-\
-
-*Strong passwords are generally are longer that 8 characters, use a mix
-of symbols, numbers and both upper and lowercase letters, and do not
-include any dictionary words or personal information. There are many
-ways to generate strong passwords. There is an online guide to creating
-passwords as part of the the excellent Security In a Box website you can
-find
-here:*[*https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/passwords*](https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/passwords)*.*
-
-\
-
-*Diceware is another excellent scheme for creating good
-passwords:*[*http://world.std.com/\~reinhold/diceware.html*](http://world.std.com/~reinhold/diceware.html)
-
-\
-
-*Most password managers will make a random password for you, as will
-other available software for that specific purpose.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Don't use the same password for more than one site or service**
-
-\
-
-*If you don't reuse passwords , someone learning your username and
-password for one service won't make it easy to access the other accounts
-you use. Use different passwords for each service so you aren't relying
-on the provider to protect your most important secret.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Try to limit written password storage**
-
-\
-
-*Instead use techniques found in the Security In a Box online guide
-listed above to create memorable but strong passwords. If you initially
-need a written copy of your password, protect it physically by storing
-it someplace like your wallet. Try to type your password with less
-looking at the copy each time, and destroy the paper copy when you**have
-memorized the password.**If you are having trouble memorizing passwords,
-use a password manager as indicated below.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Do not tell anyone else your password(s), ever**
-
-*Even if someone claims to be from IT or technical support, do not give
-them your password. Nearly every system allows for administrative reset
-of passwords for maintenance. This creates an auditable trail that you
-account was accessed and alerts you as well. Although changing your
-password afterwards is an extra step, it will ensure that you and only
-you have access to your digital information.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Consider making single use passwords for sites you rarely use**
-
-*If you need to create an account for something that you do not expect
-to use frequently and where you can reset the password easily by email,
-you may just wish to generate a very long random string of numbers,
-letters and symbols and not record it anywhere or remember it. Most
-password managers will make a random password for you, as will other
-available software for that specific purpose. This service will now have
-a password stronger than if you made one and tried to remember it.*
-
-*The next time you need to login to that service you can hit the “forgot
-password link” to get a login link and repeat the process. This is a
-little slower , perhaps, than a stored password but the benefit is that
-you will never leak your password for that tool – because you don't know
-it! Of course you wouldn't do this with an account you use all the time
-but it is useful to ease the password management load. Recognize that
-this reduces the security of the account using a “single use” password
-to the security of your email account (since you use that to get back
-into the service) so your email password needs to be strong and
-memorable.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Have all staff use password manager software**
-
-*There are many passwords associated with modern work flows. Because
-they could be used to disrupt your work in various ways passwords need
-to be protected. They shouldn't be stored in spreadsheets, text files or
-word processor documents (even password protected ones as they are
-simple to break open).*
-
-\
-
-*Instead password manager software is available which stores all of your
-passwords in a secure file and can easily take care of all of the
-checklist items above. You just remember a single password to open that
-file up and then can have an array of unique, complex passwords for all
-yoru services.*
-
-\
-
-*KeePass and KeePassX use the same encrypted file format, can run on
-most any computer and so are recommended password managers. Security In
-a Box also has a KeePass overview here:
-https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/keepass/windows*
-
-\
-
-*Web browsers are insecure environments for password storage and
-handling, but their central role in many organizations has made
-web-based tools for password management very popular. Evaluating online
-services and their current security claims is outside of the scope of
-this document. We acknowledge that online password management tools
-often have adequate security levels for many organizations' everyday
-password handling needs; however,they are not recommended for storing
-core organizational passwords or other highly sensitive information.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Separate organizational and everyday passwords**
-
-\
-
-*Organizational passwords include any passwords that grant
-administrative control of your organization's information systems or
-online identity . These are very powerful credentials and so should be
-stored separately from passwords that just get staff into their personal
-user accounts. You can do this by making a separate login or file in
-your password manager application, or by choosing a completely different
-manager altogether.*
-
-\
-
-*Placing organizational passwords in a KeePass file that only a few key
-staff members can access will lessen the risks of adopting an online
-password manager for everyday passwords, but will also place a burden on
-those staff members. Balancing these needs should be factored in your
-decision.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-*t*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Set minimum password lengths and enforce complexity rules on services
-where you can do so, and regularly monitor user password strength.**
-
-*On many platforms including Windows Active Directory and Google Apps
-you can set controls at an administrative level to ensure people use
-strong passwords. It takes some advance planning and staff training, as
-setting up these controls without being clear on the implications can
-lock people out of their computers or work files . In addition, someone
-will need to be designated as the point person for resolving problems
-that arise from these controls. This step does however improve the
-security of all users at one time so is highly recommended.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-\
-
-Public Wireless Network Safety Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-This checklist provides a number or practices that can help protect you
-and your staff when using publicly available wireless networks such as
-those in hotels, cafés and airports. Because there are so many ways that
-wireless networks can be compromised, this checklist is not exhaustive.
-
-**If performing work using sensitive or confidential information
-including that required to be protected by law (such as personal health
-information) you are best off avoiding the use of public networks for
-those tasks.**
-
- Record actions ****Difficulty rating ****Technical skill level
-****Work flow disruption
-
-Public Wireless Network Safety Tasks
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Keep all web browser software, including extensions, updated to the
-latest version. Prefer Firefox or Chrome browsers. Only use Internet
-Explorer and Safari when required.**
-
-*Internet Explorer has had a much higher incidence of vulnerabilities
-than Chrome and Firefox while Safari has suffered some recent security
-concerns. Although nearly all of the latest browsers support
-“certificate pinning”**which makes it harder to intercept secure
-connections,**Chrome and Firefox have led the development of this
-important feature. These browsers can be downloaded
-from*[*https://getfirefox.com*](https://getfirefox.com/)*and
-https://google.com/chrome.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Install the HTTPS Everywhere extension for all of the web browsers you
-use on your system.**
-
-*This step will help ensure that more sites you visit and information
-you submit to them cannot be seen by others on the wireless network or
-the operator of the network itself.********You can install the extension
-from the following page: https://www.eff.org/HTTPS-EVERYWHERE*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Install Privacy Badger, a browser add-on which will limit the
-“cookies” - small persistent chunks of information - set on your
-computer by websites**
-
-*Privacy Badger is software produced by the non-profit Electronic
-Frontier Foundation (https://eff.org) to help reduce the privacy
-breaches and tracking that come with the use of cookies. These cookies
-can be transferred insecurely so can, if poorly implemented, expose
-login credentials or other information in transit. As an extra benefit,
-you will increase you privacy and lessen your online tracking as a
-result of using this software. Download it at
-https://privacybadger.org.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Prefer wireless networks that use a password, ideally a unique one for
-each person connecting, and preferably using WPA or WPA2 encryption
-rather than WEP encryption.**
-
-*A password on a wireless network means the information moving across it
-is less easily captured and decoded by someone nearby. If everyone has a
-unique password this gets even harder. WPA and WPA2 offer stronger
-protection than WEP, which is now relatively easily compromised. You can
-easily view what encryption is in use on most computers. In OSX, hold
-down the Option key and click the wireless indicator in the top right
-corner to reveal extra information about each wireless network. The
-method for viewing these details is different in each version of Windows
-so ask your tech support provider for assistance for the software you
-use..*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Confirm the network details before you connect.**
-
-*An attacker can setup an access point with a name similar or identical
-to a legitimate one, so that you connect to it instead of the network
-you intend. Make sure to ask the proprietor of a public network what the
-network name and password are, and connect to the network with that name
-that accepts that password. This doesn't completely guarantee that the
-network you are connecting to isn't hostile or compromised, but it makes
-the difficulty of hijacking your connection much higher.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Turn off the built-in file sharing functionality on your computer or
-device**
-
-*Although handy for sharing files with peers, the built-in file sharing
-functionality on your computer is vulnerable to abuse or accidental
-information leakage. It is preferable to set up alternate tools and
-practices for sharing files, such as a central file repository.*
-
-*To turn off file sharing on a Mac, go to Apple menu \> System
-Preferences, then click Sharing and make sure all the boxes are
-unchecked.*
-
-*See this article for turning off file sharing on a Windows computer:
-https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/307874*
-
-*Recognize that if you are currently using the built-in file sharing
-functionality to share files inside an office, doing this will disrupt
-current work practices.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Turn on your computer's firewall and disallow all external
-connections**
-
-*A firewall prevents unauthorized connections from other computers on
-the wireless network. There is a built in firewall in every computer,
-but it is not turned on by default and may allow connections to certain
-services. The firewall settings can be found on Macs in System
-Preferences\>Security. On Windows computers, the firewall settings are
-in the System and Security tool in Control Panel. More information about
-Windows Firewall can be found here:
-http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/firewalls-using.aspx*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Ensure that the wireless network is not presenting false
-certificates**
-
-*Increasingly, networks are set up to monitor traffic for various
-reasons such as ad placement or content filtering. However, this
-potentially compromises all secure connections, as it allows traffic to
-be monitored via the same mechanism in what is called a
-Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attack.. The network device will replace the
-security certificate from the service you are connecting to with one of
-its own. Anyone with access to that device can see any communication
-between you and that service. Learning to view certificates in your web
-browser, or installing and learning to use a tool such as Certificate
-Patrol (available only for Firefox; read more at
-http://patrol.psyced.org/) will help you identify*
-
-*Viewing certificate information in
-Chrome:*[*https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95617?hl=en*](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95617?hl=en)
-
-\
-
-*Viewing certificate information in Firefox:*
-
-[*https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-tell-if-my-connection-is-secure*](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-tell-if-my-connection-is-secure)
-
-*https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/secure-website-certificate*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to securely tunnel out of public
-networks**
-
-*A VPN creates a secure connection for your computers to use to access
-the office network and the Internet. This connection, or tunnel, can be
-used to hide all information moving from your computers to the Internet
-or office network from the operator or other users of the wireless
-network. Use of a VPN severely limits the amount of trust you have to
-place in the owner and operator of the network you are on and so limits
-your exposure to them. These factors make VPNs a very effective way to
-protect your self on untrusted networks.*
-
-\
-
-*A VPN is implemented via a device you own located in your office or at
-an offsite facility, or that a third party provides you use of for a
-fee. Choosing a VPN provider and setting up computers to use it are not
-simple tasks, and critically important**–**a misstep in setup or use can
-expose your information or bring your work to a crawl. In addition VPNs
-add a layer of network traffic and will slow down your Internet access
-so your distance to and bandwidth available from your VPN provider (or
-office if hosting your own) will make a difference to performance.*
-
-\
-
-*Consider if the speed tradeoff is acceptable to you before choosing to
-implement a VPN. If you do, the investment in implementation, setup and
-hassle is repaid by a solution that*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-\
-\
-
-Glossary
-
-\
-\
-
-**Backup**. Regularly updated copies of your digital assets, ideally
-stored in several different places, so that if access to or integrity of
-your data is disrupted for any reason (damage to computers due to
-accident or natural disaster, accidental or malicious deletion of files,
-etc.), the assets can be restored. Online backup services such as Mozy
-and CrashPlan are best supplemented by backups stored on organizational
-equipment and in secure offsite storage.
-
-**Cookies**. Small files placed on your computer by websites that you
-visit; they are used to manage website features such as logins and can
-also be used to track behavior on the web. While not all cookies are a
-security risk, if poorly implemented they can expose the information
-they contain. More information about cookies is available at
-http://www.allaboutcookies.org/.
-
-**Digital assets**. Any and all data electronically stored or used by
-your organization. This includes your organization's files, website,
-emails, social media accounts, online banking accounts, etc. Some of
-these items may be ones that you administer yourself (e.g., the contents
-of staff hard drives, file repositories stored on servers owned and
-controlled by your organization); others may be maintained by
-third-party services on your behalf (e.g., files on Google Drive or
-Box). Others are services that you participate in that are owned and
-controlled by others (subject to terms of service), such as
-organizational Facebook pages.
-
-**DKIM records**. DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is a system to
-protect email from abuse, both from forged sender addresses and from
-content alteration. The system operates at the server level so requires
-help from your email provider to setup.
-
-**Domain Name System.**The domain name system (DNS) is like a phone book
-for the Internet. It translates domain names (such as
-roadmapconsulting.org or whitehouse.gov) into the numbers (ip addresses)
-used to find services on the Internet. It can also be used to store
-other information about your organizatio's informatio systems, such as
-SPF records or DKIM keys.
-
-**Encryption**. A mechanism by which your data scrambled in order to
-protect it from being read by unauthorized parties. Authorized parties
-have are able to decrypt (i.e., unscramble) it. There are many different
-ways to encrypt communications and other digital assets.
-
-**Encryption Key.**An encryption key is a piece of information that you
-share with an authorized party so they can encrypt and/or decrypt
-information to or from you. In most cases this information is highly
-sensitive and needs to be protected however modern encryption schemes
-allow you to have a “public” key that you can safely share with anyone.
-
-**Extensions**. Small pieces of software that you install as part of
-your web browser in order to give your browser additional capabilities.
-
-**Firewall.**A piece of software or hardware device that analyzes and
-selectively blocks or alters information passing between two networks.
-Common places to find firewalls are between your office network and the
-Internet and on your computer to protect you from other computers on
-your office network.
-
-**Office network**. The equipment in your office that allows staff
-computers to connect to each other, on site resources such as file
-servers and to the Internet. If you cannot trust that nobody else is
-controlling this network your security progress will be compromised.
-
-**Password manager software**. Software that keeps your passwords in an
-encrypted format, protected by a master password. This allows you to
-store multiple passwords by remembering only one. Password managers are
-available as software that you install (e.g., KeePass) and as a
-web-based service (e.g., LastPass). While web-based password managers
-can be secure enough to hold the passwords staff use to access their
-accounts for everyday purposes, they are not recommended to store the
-passwords that grant administrative access to core organizational
-accounts.
-
-**Security certificates**. Security certificates are a specific kind of
-file that includes an encryption key, and often times additional
-information about that key. Websites such as used for banking and other
-services frequently use them to allow you to establish a secure
-connection with their servers.
-
-**SPF records**. Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a system that allows
-you to tell others what servers and services are allowed to send email
-for your organization's domain name. Setting up this record requires the
-assistance of your DNS provider and can have unintended negative
-consequences for your email delivery if not properly done.
-
-**Virtual Private Network (VPN)**. A connection between computers that
-them to exchange information in an encrypted form. This can allow you to
-both “tunnel out of” a network you don't trust or to get you access to
-information on your office network from someplace else on the Internet.
-
-**Wireless Access Point.**A wireless access point (WAP) is a piece of
-hardware configured to host a wireless network. In many small networks
-the WAP will also be a firewall separating the network from the rest of
-the Internet.
-
-**WEP, WPA and WPA2**. All are methods of encrypting wireless network
-traffic between a device like a computer or phone and a wireless access
-point. WEP is an older encryption method and it is far less secure than
-WPA and WPA2, which are newer methods.
-
-\
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-
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-
-i
-
-\
-
-nformation ecology, llc \* oakland, california
-
-https://iecology.org \* 510-479-9779 \* info@iecology.org
-
-\
-\
-
-**Please Note**: Although these practices are highly recommended they do
-not in and of themselves constitute a successful security practice.
-Information security is an ongoing process of managing risk and no list
-of procedures is an adequate replacement for a thorough review of what
-information you are protecting, why and from whom paired with an
-organizational commitment to shifting operations to mitigate risk.
-Information Ecology, RoadMap Consulting and Common Counsel are not
-liable for negative outcomes associated with following these practices.
-
-Last update 4/20/2015
diff --git a/checklists_grid_tables.md b/checklists_grid_tables.md
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-\
-
-\
-
-\
-
-**PEER REVIEWED VERSION****–****FOR PUBLIC USE**
-
-DIGITAL SECURITYCHECKLISTS FOR U.S. NON-PROFITS
-
-Version 1.0
-
-\
-\
-
-**What is this document set?**
-
-This set of documents was made to help small non-profits and NGOs
-improve their digital security outcomes despite limited resources and
-technical skill availability. The content was commissioned as part of
-the Weathering The Storms initiative of RoadMap Consulting and fiscally
-sponsored by Common Counsel Foundation of Oakland, California. The
-content was researched and prepared by Jonah Silas Sheridan and Lisa
-Jervis, Principals of Information Ecology, a capacity building
-consultancy specializing in non-profit and movement technology
-management and peer reviewed by generous members of our community. Many
-other eyes and hands have helped tune the recommendations to ensure
-technical accuracy and ease of use. We are grateful to all the members
-of our community that have helped bring these documents to life.
-
-**About digital security**
-
-The typical technical definition of digital security says that it is the
-set of processes and practices used to **manage the risk**of an
-**adversary**exploiting **vulnerabilities** in your systems such that
-they may become a **threat**to the **confidentiality**, **integrity**,
-or **availability**of **digital assets** (e.g., file stores, cloud
-services, emails) or communication **channels** (e.g., instant
-messaging, telephone, video chats). What does that really mean? It means
-digital security is the work of protecting your organization's
-information from being accessed, changed, or blocked by anyone—internal
-or external, intentionally or not—who shouldn't be able to do so.
-Effective security strategies, digital or operational are based on the
-specific threats, vulnerabilities, and adversaries of your organization.
-This does not mean that a detailed analysis is necessary to get started
-improving your digital security practices. Many small U.S. organizations
-share a set of basic threats and vulnerabilities, which these documents
-are meant to help them address.
-
-All security practices require a **strong organizational commitment**,
-as they dictate changes to how you and your team work together, in
-addition to demanding ongoing attention to ensure that software and
-practices are regularly updated and working properly. The more you can
-understand about the threats your organization faces, the better you can
-select and commit to practices that will be useful for protecting your
-organization and its operating environment.
-
-We have identified solutions and practices across a range of levels of
-technical skill and organizational commitment. The effectiveness of
-these practices to protect from real threats is directly correlated with
-the level of investment you make in implementing them. With current
-tools, security measures are nearly always at odds with convenience. The
-more you can understand what actual threats there are to your systems
-the more directed (and therefore less impactful to operations) your
-security practices will be. In this was you assure that the more you put
-in to securing your systems, the more you will lower your risk of bad
-outcomes.
-
-**Why digital security checklists?**
-
-While computers have revolutionized how non-profits work, the last
-several years have begun to reveal to the general public the many risks
-associated with digital communication and information storage. While all
-organizations want to protect their information—and that of their
-partners and allies—few have a strong understanding of the relevant
-risks and most effective responses. These checklists represent
-recommendations for a set of baseline digital security practices. They
-have been created as a harm reduction step in response to incident
-reports, current research and community feedback about the threats faced
-by non-profits' computer systems.
-
-The public-health concept of harm reduction is a useful approach to any
-situation for which a perfect solution is not available. Despite being
-an incomplete solution, regular hand washing is an important part of
-limiting the risk of getting certain illnesses. Similarly a set of
-standard best practices represented by checklists cannot mitigate all
-risks, yet they can help protect you and your organization from some of
-the serious threats that come with using computers to manage your
-information. These checklists are meant as a starting point in
-understanding and responding to the most basic threats computer users
-face today. They are a necessary first step to secure our movements.
-They are not sufficient for those of us working in extremely hostile
-environments, for instance against highly repressive regimes and in
-risky areas like conflict journalism; in no case should they be a
-substitute for a more aggressive security response where warranted.
-
-\
-\
-
-**What these checklists are not (and cannot be)**
-
-Effective security is an ongoing process. It requires consistent
-practices to be undertaken by all staff, periodic review and adjustment
-to practices, and strong leadership from board and senior staff. Every
-organization faces a specific set of threats to its information, some of
-which may be completely outside the digital realm (e.g., infiltration of
-organizing meetings by a political adversary). As no set of checklists
-can address all situations, these checklists do not represent a complete
-solution for securing your organization.
-
-\
-\
-
-It is also important to recognize that security and convenience are
-generally at odds. Most security practices, both in the digital realm
-and the “real world,” consist of trade-offs between security and
-efficiency. Following the checklist recommendations will generally not
-make your work smoother and easier. Instead, many will likely create
-some disruption and training needs. In order to make meaningful strides
-in security, your organization must be prepared to make these trade-offs
-whether steep or shallow. These investments in time and attention will
-repay the organization in decreased risk to critical data and systems.
-
-\
-\
-
-Who these checklists are for
-
-Due to the variety of threats, vulnerabilities, and adversaries that
-arise in different contexts of geopolitics and scale, the
-recommendations in these checklists apply only to organizations meeting
-the following criteria:
-
-- The organization has one or more primary locations in the United
- States each with an office network that allows staff computers to
- connect to each other, internal services and the Internet. Each
- internal network is trusted to be free from outside interference and
- is segmented from the open Internet or hosting organizations'
- networks by a firewall device.
-
-- The organization can successfully protect physical access to its
- office spaces and office network equipment.
-
-- These office networks do not host any websites or other information
- resources that are meant to accessible to all users on the public
- Internet (as opposed to resources such as printers and file servers
- that are available only to users who are connected to the office
- network).
-
-- The organization uses primarily Windows or Mac computers with some
- limited use of mobile devices to access its information systems.
-
-- Although the organization may communicate with partners abroad, its
- staff do not cross international borders while carrying the
- organization's equipment or data nor regularly work in a foreign
- country.
-
-- The organization is broadly seeking to protect itself from security
- threats from non-persistent general adversaries with limited
- resources (e.g., disgruntled individuals, identity thieves,
- political opponents, internal threats) rather than the U.S.
- government, other governments or other large global entities
- including multinational corporations.
-
-If these assumptions don't apply to you, these recommendations are
-inadequate; a more rigorous information security approach, in
-partnership with a provider of professional security services, is
-strongly recommended. Contact RoadMap for help or referrals .
-
-How to use these checklists
-
-\
-\
-
-The items on these checklists are meant to be actionable and accessible;
-each checklist item includes a brief explanation of what it means as
-well as, where possible, next steps for implementation. The icons
-accompanying each item will help you identify how difficult, disruptive
-and costly a given step might be to undertake.
-
-The first checklist deals with Digital Security Readiness. If you cannot
-check off the items on that list, your organization should concentrate
-first on building the capacity to address these foundational elements
-before undertaking additional digital security improvements.
-
-\
-\
-
-Digital Security Readiness Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-**This checklist contains baseline, ongoing information systems and
-technology practices that your organization must already have in place
-in order to successfully take on a digital security initiative. If you
-cannot check off more than 75% of the items in the list below, it is
-recommended you focus on meeting these baselines before proceeding with
-other digital security work. Even if at 75% or above, be sure to note
-the unmarked items and make plans to implement them as soon as possible,
-as not doing so will likely undermine your security efforts.**
-
-Digital Security Readiness Tasks
-
-✔
-
-**Have regular and adequate technical support provided either by staff
-assigned via job description or contracted with outside agencies.**
-
-*If your existing hardware and software are not well supported,
-introducing new tools and practices will likely meet with significant
-barriers, as new technologies and tools often demand significant ongoing
-technical support for proper setup and functioning. There are as many
-ways to secure technical support as there are organizations. Talking to
-peer organizations in your area is a good way to find quality help.*
-
-\
-
-**Have a culture of training and learning, including strong technology
-training and follow up as part of new staff orientation procedures.**
-
-*New tools and practices demand end user training. If your organization
-doesn't have established practices around training, implementing
-improved and possibly complex secure practices is nearly impossible.
-Beginning with documentation and training for new hires is a wise first
-step in this area. Following up with new employees at 30 day intervals
-will ensure they continue to get the support they need to do their work
-effectively and securely.*
-
-\
-
-**Have a common and clearly communicated set of information systems that
-all staff use effectively.**
-
-*If your staff are using personal file-sharing, email, task management,
-or other accounts without knowledge or guidance from the organization,
-not only will your efficiency suffer but the environment becomes
-impractical to secure. How can you protect things you have no access to
-at an administrative level or, worse yet, don't even know are in use?*
-
-\
-
-**Have a recurrent line item for technology in your budget**
-
-*Security is an ongoing process and will require ongoing investments in
-computer equipment and software to be effective. Work with your
-technical support provider to determine an appropriate amount to put
-into this line item.*
-
-\
-
-**Provide relatively new and adequately powered computers to all staff**
-
-*Industry standard best practice is to replace laptops and desktops
-every 3 to 5 years. Encryption tools use a lot of power and can bring
-older, inadequately powered computers to a near halt, making some
-security steps untenable for staff. Money for replacing 1/3 to 1/5 of
-your computers each year should be part of your recurring technology
-budgeting.*
-
-\
-
-**Have some baseline non-technical security practices**
-
-*If you do not control your office space and access to your computers,
-your other digital security steps can be easily circumvented by walking
-into your office. Rotate alarm system codes, door codes, wireless
-network passwords and other sensitive access procedures such as
-emergency building access when staff leave the organization.*
-
-\
-
-**Make sure the computers and other devices you use, including personal
-devices that staff may use to access organizational information, are not
-compromised by malware, viruses or other intrusive software.**
-
-\
-
-*As a first step, ensure you are running antivirus software on all
-computers*
-
-*Antivirus software for Macs and Windows computers is available to
-non-profits at a discounted rate through Tech Soup
-(**http://techsoup.org**). If you haven't been running antivirus
-software or otherwise aren't sure about the status of your devices, you
-can have the operating system (OS) on it reinstalled to help guarantee
-the computer is free of malware and viruses. If reinstalling, use a copy
-from the OS provider, NOT the computer manufacturer, as manufacturers
-often bundle dangerous software in their installs. There are other ways
-in which yoru devices can be compromised which will not be remedied by
-OS install. If you suspect such an issue, get a new computer and call a
-security professional.*
-
-\
-
-**Have a disaster recovery plan that includes making regular backups of
-organizational data that are stored away from your main offices. Do not
-rely exclusively on third parties to back up and hold your
-information.**
-
-*This actually is a digital security practice itself, but
-straightforward and critical enough that it needs to come before any
-other digital security steps. Talk to your technical support provider
-about the status of your backups. Refer to the guide at the following
-link for ideas on how to improve your disaster preparedness
-http://www.techsoup.org/disaster-planning-and-recovery*
-
-\
-
-Legend: What the icons mean
-
-
-
-This icon flags columns for you to record actions you have taken. Check
-them off as you go!
-
-\
-\
-
-
-
-This icon represents the overall difficulty rating for a checklist item.
-One star items should be doable by most technology capable
-organizations. Items with two stars may require some outside assistance
-and work flow shifts. Three stars will require significant
-organizational commitment of resources and technical assistance. Items
-with four stars are only for organizations ready to take on advanced
-security practices, including the ongoing commitment of human and other
-resources needed to make them effective.
-
-\
-\
-
-
-
-This icon represents the amount of technical skill needed to undertake
-the practice. One set of tools means most skilled computer users can do,
-or be trained to do, the task. Two sets of tools require “power user”
-technical skills, often found in the “Accidental Techie” on staff. Three
-sets of tools will require a technical support person to do the work.
-Four sets of tools means you will need a technical support person with
-significant skills in networking or security to undertake the practice.
-
-\
-\
-
-
-
-This icon represents the amount of work flow disruption taking on this
-task entails, and consequently how much staff time for documentation,
-training and work shifts is required. One lightning bolt items will be
-mostly innocuous and staff can be trained in a brief session. Two
-lightning bolts means the practice will require more training and can
-disrupt existing work flows dramatically. Three lightning bolts signals
-that significant work flow shifts and training will be required to
-undertake the practice. Four lightning bolts means the task will disrupt
-work flow completely and is only for organizations where security is of
-far greater importance than efficiency or convenience.
-
-Email Safety Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-This checklist provides a number of practices that can help protect you
-and your staff when using email to communicate. Before writing an email,
-ask yourself, would I put this on a postcard that might be kept forever?
-If the answer is no, consider using other means to communicate.
-
-Think about email you receive like a shut up envelope. If you don't know
-who sent it or what is in the envelope, you should open it very
-carefully. Especially since, in the case of email, it may contain
-viruses or other threats to your organization.
-
-**If performing work using sensitive or confidential information
-including that required to be protected by law (such as personal health
-information, employment records and credit card numbers) you are must
-avoid the use of regular (non-encrypted) email to communicate that
-information. Where email is your only communication option, you may need
-to implement an encryption scheme as found in the final checklist item
-below.**
-
- Record actions ****Difficulty rating ****Technical skill level
-****Work flow disruption
-
-Email Safety Tasks
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Train your organization not to send sensitive or controversial
-information over email whenever possible.**
-
-*Information in these categories include but are not limited to credit
-card information, social security numbers, health information,
-organizational strategy, potentially damaging critiques or insults.
-Establish other practices for sharing this information such as instant
-messaging, secure downloads or plain old paper mail.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use strong passwords for all email accounts; change them on a regular
-basis, and immediately if you have any suspicion of them being used by a
-third party**
-
-*Strong passwords generally are made with a mix of letters, numbers and
-symbols and are as long as possible. Teach everyone in your organization
-how to generate and store strong passwords as well as how to reset their
-own passwords to critical accounts. Good passwords can be made a variety
-of ways. One recommended method is called Diceware:
-http://world.std.com/\~reinhold/diceware.html*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Learn to recognize suspicious behavior in your email account.**
-
-*Generally anything in your email unexpected should be looked at with
-suspicion. Be wary of any messages that ask you to do something,
-including clicking a link, opening an attachment or emailing back
-information. Be aware that it can be easy to fake email “From” addresses
-so notice any emails that don't match the usual style of the sender
-indicated in the “From” address. If someone has broken into your account
-you may see reply**messages**you don't understand, additional sent
-items, new folders or filters being created or other settings changes.
-Suspicious emails or account behavior should be reported to a technical
-support person and you should preemptively change your password.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Always login to email over a private connection**
-
-*This means using an address that starts with https:// for webmail, and
-turning on mandatory STARTTLS , SSL or TLS encryption in the settings of
-your email client. For GMail, connecting using a recent version of the
-Chrome or Firefox browser will ensure you have such a secure
-connection.*
-
-*This practice will help ensure that someone operating on a network
-between you and your email server cannot read or alter your email in
-transit. Note that if your email is sent to someone outside of your
-organization you cannot control the connections between your email
-server and the recipients' servers nor how the recipients access the
-message so it is still vulnerable to attack. to .Because you control
-your organization and mail server, following this practice may improve
-the overall security of internal email but is not justification to send
-sensitive information using email internally or externally.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Where you can, implement two factor authentication for email
-accounts.**
-
-*Many email providers have begun to offer login systems that rely on
-more that one piece of information to identify yourself. There can be
-several, but usually there are just two; your password and another code
-you have. Often this is a code sent by text message to your phone but
-can also be embedded on a special type of USB device, a program that
-generates codes on your phone or even a piece of paper with preprinted
-codes. Users will have to get used to having this extra step to login to
-new devices, but it protects from someone who obtains either item from
-getting into the account.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Don't send email attachments unless using encryption***Unencrypted
-mail attachments are not protected from being viewed or altered between
-recipients, and they end to stay in email boxes where they are harder to
-control. Perhaps more important, regular use of attachments builds and
-encourages a culture of opening them automatically, which is a major
-source of viruses, malware and associated intrusions. A better practice
-is to have files on a server and send links to documents instead of the
-documents themselves. Ideally these links lead to locations that
-themselves are protected by passwords or other authentication, or are
-temporary and expire soon after use.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Be very careful clicking links or opening attachments in emails.**
-
-*Links, often innocuous looking or even hidden within emails, are a
-major way adversaries get rogue software inside networks. Before
-clicking a link or anywhere on an email, check that it points to a
-domain name (such as roadmapconsulting.org) that you recognize and
-expect (in most email programs, as on the web, hovering over a link
-displays the URL it points to). If not, check with the sender to make
-sure you aren't being scammed. Similarly, don't open an attachment
-unless you are expecting it and the filename is in line with that
-expectation.****NEVER****open links for files from unknown senders or in
-otherwise suspicious emails.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Don't send mass email from standard accounts; instead, use a third
-party service and if possible a dedicated mass email subdomain.**
-
-*Sending bulk email from regular email accounts can lead to all sorts of
-problems for mail delivery primarily by having your accounts or domain
-name marked as a source of spam. You may also wish to send bulk email
-using a separate domain name from your main email (such as
-comms.roadmapconsulting.org) to further differentiate the traffic and
-reduce the risk of delivery problems for your regular emails.
-Additionally ensuring all email lists are opt-in (people have to confirm
-they want to receive them) and including instructions on how to
-discontinue them will minimize the chance of your emails being marked as
-spam by recipients.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Pay for a service to filter spam and viruses from email before it
-reaches your inbox**
-
-*This service comes included if you use Gmail, but doesn't with all
-email services. Filtering mail before it reaches your network lessens
-the chance of a virus or malware bearing link or attachment being
-clicked on. After initial setup this service will be nearly invisible to
-staff, but requires that someone is tasked with dealing with false
-positives and other email delivery problems. Be aware, however, that
-this item involves a significant tradeoff: filtering means that another
-company is viewing your email before it reaches you and so may increase
-risk of that information being exposed. The Electric Embers Cooperative
-(*[*http://electricembers.coop*](http://electricembers.coop/)*) offers
-such a service specifically for non-profits.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Where email is accessed on mobile or laptop devices, configure email
-clients and web browser to store as little information as possible**
-
-*Most web browsers can and should be set to clear their cache when
-closed. Most email clients can be configured to not store email offline
-and to clear caches when closed. Both can be configured not to store
-passwords as well. By configuring both this way, a lost laptop or phone
-will potentially result in far less information disclosure. Note that it
-may also mean that you need to enter a password every time you start the
-program and cannot access emails when not connected to the Internet so
-may have extreme operational impact to your team*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Establish an email phishing training and education program and test
-staff through live testing.**
-
-“*Phishing” is where emails are crafted to look as legitimate as
-possible in order to get you to click a link or attachment. This is
-actually a social engineering attack more than a technical one, and so
-addressing the human element through education is the best way forward.
-Testing people by sending fake, innocuous phishing emails, is a hard
-task, but recommended to give people a chance to practice without bad
-consequences. There are multiple companies that offer this training if
-you don't have internal capacity to provide it yourself. Contact RoadMap
-for referrals.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Setup correct DKIM and SPF records for your email domains and
-subdomains**
-
-*These are highly technical steps made in conjunction with your email
-and Domain Name Service providers to minimize the ability of spammers or
-phishers to fake emails from your organization. “Hard fail” settings are
-preferred for SPF records wherever possible. Once set up, this should
-have minimal impact on day to day operations, though it make changingo
-your email provider or infrastructure more complex. Find more
-information at*[*http://dkim.org*](http://dkim.org/)*and
-http://www.openspf.org/.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use PGP encryption to secure your email “end to end”**
-
-*This is a highly technical and labor-intensive initiative to undertake,
-but probably the most complete way to minimize any inadvertent
-disclosure of data through email. It will likely require significant
-changes to staff practices. The most common tools for using PGP
-encryption with email are the Mozilla Thunderbird email client and the
-associated Enigmail plugin . You can find a guide for that setup
-at*[*https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/thunderbird/windows*](https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/thunderbird/windows)*OSX's
-Mail program and open source add on GPGTools
-(*[*https://gpgtools.org*](https://gpgtools.org/)*) is also a workable
-tool set for using PGP encrypted email on Macs. Outlook requires a
-commercial add-on from Symantec to use PGP encryption on Windows. For
-organizations with more resources, S/MIME is an alternate encryption
-scheme that works well with a Microsoft Exchange/Outlook environment. If
-interested in either of these solutions talk to your technical support
-provider and be prepared to invest some time and resources into
-planning, implementation and training.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-\
-
-Password and Authentication Safety Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-This checklist provides a number of practices that can help you and your
-staff better curate your organization's passwords and control who
-accesses your information. While passwords are the most common form of
-authentication (that is, proving your identity to a computer system),
-other systems are emerging that offer better protection. Some are
-mentioned below.
-
-In the recommendations below, the term “organizational” is used to
-identify the group of accounts that grant access to your organization's
-online identity, backups, administrative controls and other critical
-systems. These tend to be used infrequently, but are very powerful. As
-such these passwords should be treated different from “everyday”
-credentials (the set of passwords that staff members need to perform
-their regular duties using databases, communication tools, and other
-platforms used for daily work).
-
-\
-\
-
- Record actions ****Difficulty rating ****Technical skill level
-****Work flow disruption
-
-Password and Authentication Safety Tasks
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use strong passwords for all accounts, organizational and everyday**
-
-\
-
-*Strong passwords are generally are longer that 8 characters, use a mix
-of symbols, numbers and both upper and lowercase letters, and do not
-include any dictionary words or personal information. There are many
-ways to generate strong passwords. There is an online guide to creating
-passwords as part of the the excellent Security In a Box website you can
-find
-here:*[*https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/passwords*](https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/passwords)*.*
-
-\
-
-*Diceware is another excellent scheme for creating good
-passwords:*[*http://world.std.com/\~reinhold/diceware.html*](http://world.std.com/~reinhold/diceware.html)
-
-\
-
-*Most password managers will make a random password for you, as will
-other available software for that specific purpose.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Don't use the same password for more than one site or service**
-
-\
-
-*If you don't reuse passwords , someone learning your username and
-password for one service won't make it easy to access the other accounts
-you use. Use different passwords for each service so you aren't relying
-on the provider to protect your most important secret.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Try to limit written password storage**
-
-\
-
-*Instead use techniques found in the Security In a Box online guide
-listed above to create memorable but strong passwords. If you initially
-need a written copy of your password, protect it physically by storing
-it someplace like your wallet. Try to type your password with less
-looking at the copy each time, and destroy the paper copy when you**have
-memorized the password.**If you are having trouble memorizing passwords,
-use a password manager as indicated below.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Do not tell anyone else your password(s), ever**
-
-*Even if someone claims to be from IT or technical support, do not give
-them your password. Nearly every system allows for administrative reset
-of passwords for maintenance. This creates an auditable trail that you
-account was accessed and alerts you as well. Although changing your
-password afterwards is an extra step, it will ensure that you and only
-you have access to your digital information.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Consider making single use passwords for sites you rarely use**
-
-*If you need to create an account for something that you do not expect
-to use frequently and where you can reset the password easily by email,
-you may just wish to generate a very long random string of numbers,
-letters and symbols and not record it anywhere or remember it. Most
-password managers will make a random password for you, as will other
-available software for that specific purpose. This service will now have
-a password stronger than if you made one and tried to remember it.*
-
-*The next time you need to login to that service you can hit the “forgot
-password link” to get a login link and repeat the process. This is a
-little slower , perhaps, than a stored password but the benefit is that
-you will never leak your password for that tool – because you don't know
-it! Of course you wouldn't do this with an account you use all the time
-but it is useful to ease the password management load. Recognize that
-this reduces the security of the account using a “single use” password
-to the security of your email account (since you use that to get back
-into the service) so your email password needs to be strong and
-memorable.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Have all staff use password manager software**
-
-*There are many passwords associated with modern work flows. Because
-they could be used to disrupt your work in various ways passwords need
-to be protected. They shouldn't be stored in spreadsheets, text files or
-word processor documents (even password protected ones as they are
-simple to break open).*
-
-\
-
-*Instead password manager software is available which stores all of your
-passwords in a secure file and can easily take care of all of the
-checklist items above. You just remember a single password to open that
-file up and then can have an array of unique, complex passwords for all
-yoru services.*
-
-\
-
-*KeePass and KeePassX use the same encrypted file format, can run on
-most any computer and so are recommended password managers. Security In
-a Box also has a KeePass overview here:
-https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/keepass/windows*
-
-\
-
-*Web browsers are insecure environments for password storage and
-handling, but their central role in many organizations has made
-web-based tools for password management very popular. Evaluating online
-services and their current security claims is outside of the scope of
-this document. We acknowledge that online password management tools
-often have adequate security levels for many organizations' everyday
-password handling needs; however,they are not recommended for storing
-core organizational passwords or other highly sensitive information.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Separate organizational and everyday passwords**
-
-\
-
-*Organizational passwords include any passwords that grant
-administrative control of your organization's information systems or
-online identity . These are very powerful credentials and so should be
-stored separately from passwords that just get staff into their personal
-user accounts. You can do this by making a separate login or file in
-your password manager application, or by choosing a completely different
-manager altogether.*
-
-\
-
-*Placing organizational passwords in a KeePass file that only a few key
-staff members can access will lessen the risks of adopting an online
-password manager for everyday passwords, but will also place a burden on
-those staff members. Balancing these needs should be factored in your
-decision.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-*t*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Set minimum password lengths and enforce complexity rules on services
-where you can do so, and regularly monitor user password strength.**
-
-*On many platforms including Windows Active Directory and Google Apps
-you can set controls at an administrative level to ensure people use
-strong passwords. It takes some advance planning and staff training, as
-setting up these controls without being clear on the implications can
-lock people out of their computers or work files . In addition, someone
-will need to be designated as the point person for resolving problems
-that arise from these controls. This step does however improve the
-security of all users at one time so is highly recommended.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-\
-
-Public Wireless Network Safety Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-This checklist provides a number or practices that can help protect you
-and your staff when using publicly available wireless networks such as
-those in hotels, cafés and airports. Because there are so many ways that
-wireless networks can be compromised, this checklist is not exhaustive.
-
-**If performing work using sensitive or confidential information
-including that required to be protected by law (such as personal health
-information) you are best off avoiding the use of public networks for
-those tasks.**
-
- Record actions ****Difficulty rating ****Technical skill level
-****Work flow disruption
-
-Public Wireless Network Safety Tasks
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Keep all web browser software, including extensions, updated to the
-latest version. Prefer Firefox or Chrome browsers. Only use Internet
-Explorer and Safari when required.**
-
-*Internet Explorer has had a much higher incidence of vulnerabilities
-than Chrome and Firefox while Safari has suffered some recent security
-concerns. Although nearly all of the latest browsers support
-“certificate pinning”**which makes it harder to intercept secure
-connections,**Chrome and Firefox have led the development of this
-important feature. These browsers can be downloaded
-from*[*https://getfirefox.com*](https://getfirefox.com/)*and
-https://google.com/chrome.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Install the HTTPS Everywhere extension for all of the web browsers you
-use on your system.**
-
-*This step will help ensure that more sites you visit and information
-you submit to them cannot be seen by others on the wireless network or
-the operator of the network itself.********You can install the extension
-from the following page: https://www.eff.org/HTTPS-EVERYWHERE*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Install Privacy Badger, a browser add-on which will limit the
-“cookies” - small persistent chunks of information - set on your
-computer by websites**
-
-*Privacy Badger is software produced by the non-profit Electronic
-Frontier Foundation (https://eff.org) to help reduce the privacy
-breaches and tracking that come with the use of cookies. These cookies
-can be transferred insecurely so can, if poorly implemented, expose
-login credentials or other information in transit. As an extra benefit,
-you will increase you privacy and lessen your online tracking as a
-result of using this software. Download it at
-https://privacybadger.org.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Prefer wireless networks that use a password, ideally a unique one for
-each person connecting, and preferably using WPA or WPA2 encryption
-rather than WEP encryption.**
-
-*A password on a wireless network means the information moving across it
-is less easily captured and decoded by someone nearby. If everyone has a
-unique password this gets even harder. WPA and WPA2 offer stronger
-protection than WEP, which is now relatively easily compromised. You can
-easily view what encryption is in use on most computers. In OSX, hold
-down the Option key and click the wireless indicator in the top right
-corner to reveal extra information about each wireless network. The
-method for viewing these details is different in each version of Windows
-so ask your tech support provider for assistance for the software you
-use..*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Confirm the network details before you connect.**
-
-*An attacker can setup an access point with a name similar or identical
-to a legitimate one, so that you connect to it instead of the network
-you intend. Make sure to ask the proprietor of a public network what the
-network name and password are, and connect to the network with that name
-that accepts that password. This doesn't completely guarantee that the
-network you are connecting to isn't hostile or compromised, but it makes
-the difficulty of hijacking your connection much higher.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Turn off the built-in file sharing functionality on your computer or
-device**
-
-*Although handy for sharing files with peers, the built-in file sharing
-functionality on your computer is vulnerable to abuse or accidental
-information leakage. It is preferable to set up alternate tools and
-practices for sharing files, such as a central file repository.*
-
-*To turn off file sharing on a Mac, go to Apple menu \> System
-Preferences, then click Sharing and make sure all the boxes are
-unchecked.*
-
-*See this article for turning off file sharing on a Windows computer:
-https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/307874*
-
-*Recognize that if you are currently using the built-in file sharing
-functionality to share files inside an office, doing this will disrupt
-current work practices.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Turn on your computer's firewall and disallow all external
-connections**
-
-*A firewall prevents unauthorized connections from other computers on
-the wireless network. There is a built in firewall in every computer,
-but it is not turned on by default and may allow connections to certain
-services. The firewall settings can be found on Macs in System
-Preferences\>Security. On Windows computers, the firewall settings are
-in the System and Security tool in Control Panel. More information about
-Windows Firewall can be found here:
-http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/firewalls-using.aspx*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Ensure that the wireless network is not presenting false
-certificates**
-
-*Increasingly, networks are set up to monitor traffic for various
-reasons such as ad placement or content filtering. However, this
-potentially compromises all secure connections, as it allows traffic to
-be monitored via the same mechanism in what is called a
-Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attack.. The network device will replace the
-security certificate from the service you are connecting to with one of
-its own. Anyone with access to that device can see any communication
-between you and that service. Learning to view certificates in your web
-browser, or installing and learning to use a tool such as Certificate
-Patrol (available only for Firefox; read more at
-http://patrol.psyced.org/) will help you identify*
-
-*Viewing certificate information in
-Chrome:*[*https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95617?hl=en*](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95617?hl=en)
-
-\
-
-*Viewing certificate information in Firefox:*
-
-[*https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-tell-if-my-connection-is-secure*](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-tell-if-my-connection-is-secure)
-
-*https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/secure-website-certificate*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to securely tunnel out of public
-networks**
-
-*A VPN creates a secure connection for your computers to use to access
-the office network and the Internet. This connection, or tunnel, can be
-used to hide all information moving from your computers to the Internet
-or office network from the operator or other users of the wireless
-network. Use of a VPN severely limits the amount of trust you have to
-place in the owner and operator of the network you are on and so limits
-your exposure to them. These factors make VPNs a very effective way to
-protect your self on untrusted networks.*
-
-\
-
-*A VPN is implemented via a device you own located in your office or at
-an offsite facility, or that a third party provides you use of for a
-fee. Choosing a VPN provider and setting up computers to use it are not
-simple tasks, and critically important**–**a misstep in setup or use can
-expose your information or bring your work to a crawl. In addition VPNs
-add a layer of network traffic and will slow down your Internet access
-so your distance to and bandwidth available from your VPN provider (or
-office if hosting your own) will make a difference to performance.*
-
-\
-
-*Consider if the speed tradeoff is acceptable to you before choosing to
-implement a VPN. If you do, the investment in implementation, setup and
-hassle is repaid by a solution that*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-\
-\
-
-Glossary
-
-\
-\
-
-**Backup**. Regularly updated copies of your digital assets, ideally
-stored in several different places, so that if access to or integrity of
-your data is disrupted for any reason (damage to computers due to
-accident or natural disaster, accidental or malicious deletion of files,
-etc.), the assets can be restored. Online backup services such as Mozy
-and CrashPlan are best supplemented by backups stored on organizational
-equipment and in secure offsite storage.
-
-**Cookies**. Small files placed on your computer by websites that you
-visit; they are used to manage website features such as logins and can
-also be used to track behavior on the web. While not all cookies are a
-security risk, if poorly implemented they can expose the information
-they contain. More information about cookies is available at
-http://www.allaboutcookies.org/.
-
-**Digital assets**. Any and all data electronically stored or used by
-your organization. This includes your organization's files, website,
-emails, social media accounts, online banking accounts, etc. Some of
-these items may be ones that you administer yourself (e.g., the contents
-of staff hard drives, file repositories stored on servers owned and
-controlled by your organization); others may be maintained by
-third-party services on your behalf (e.g., files on Google Drive or
-Box). Others are services that you participate in that are owned and
-controlled by others (subject to terms of service), such as
-organizational Facebook pages.
-
-**DKIM records**. DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is a system to
-protect email from abuse, both from forged sender addresses and from
-content alteration. The system operates at the server level so requires
-help from your email provider to setup.
-
-**Domain Name System.**The domain name system (DNS) is like a phone book
-for the Internet. It translates domain names (such as
-roadmapconsulting.org or whitehouse.gov) into the numbers (ip addresses)
-used to find services on the Internet. It can also be used to store
-other information about your organizatio's informatio systems, such as
-SPF records or DKIM keys.
-
-**Encryption**. A mechanism by which your data scrambled in order to
-protect it from being read by unauthorized parties. Authorized parties
-have are able to decrypt (i.e., unscramble) it. There are many different
-ways to encrypt communications and other digital assets.
-
-**Encryption Key.**An encryption key is a piece of information that you
-share with an authorized party so they can encrypt and/or decrypt
-information to or from you. In most cases this information is highly
-sensitive and needs to be protected however modern encryption schemes
-allow you to have a “public” key that you can safely share with anyone.
-
-**Extensions**. Small pieces of software that you install as part of
-your web browser in order to give your browser additional capabilities.
-
-**Firewall.**A piece of software or hardware device that analyzes and
-selectively blocks or alters information passing between two networks.
-Common places to find firewalls are between your office network and the
-Internet and on your computer to protect you from other computers on
-your office network.
-
-**Office network**. The equipment in your office that allows staff
-computers to connect to each other, on site resources such as file
-servers and to the Internet. If you cannot trust that nobody else is
-controlling this network your security progress will be compromised.
-
-**Password manager software**. Software that keeps your passwords in an
-encrypted format, protected by a master password. This allows you to
-store multiple passwords by remembering only one. Password managers are
-available as software that you install (e.g., KeePass) and as a
-web-based service (e.g., LastPass). While web-based password managers
-can be secure enough to hold the passwords staff use to access their
-accounts for everyday purposes, they are not recommended to store the
-passwords that grant administrative access to core organizational
-accounts.
-
-**Security certificates**. Security certificates are a specific kind of
-file that includes an encryption key, and often times additional
-information about that key. Websites such as used for banking and other
-services frequently use them to allow you to establish a secure
-connection with their servers.
-
-**SPF records**. Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a system that allows
-you to tell others what servers and services are allowed to send email
-for your organization's domain name. Setting up this record requires the
-assistance of your DNS provider and can have unintended negative
-consequences for your email delivery if not properly done.
-
-**Virtual Private Network (VPN)**. A connection between computers that
-them to exchange information in an encrypted form. This can allow you to
-both “tunnel out of” a network you don't trust or to get you access to
-information on your office network from someplace else on the Internet.
-
-**Wireless Access Point.**A wireless access point (WAP) is a piece of
-hardware configured to host a wireless network. In many small networks
-the WAP will also be a firewall separating the network from the rest of
-the Internet.
-
-**WEP, WPA and WPA2**. All are methods of encrypting wireless network
-traffic between a device like a computer or phone and a wireless access
-point. WEP is an older encryption method and it is far less secure than
-WPA and WPA2, which are newer methods.
-
-\
-\
-
-\
-\
-
-i
-
-\
-
-nformation ecology, llc \* oakland, california
-
-https://iecology.org \* 510-479-9779 \* info@iecology.org
-
-\
-\
-
-**Please Note**: Although these practices are highly recommended they do
-not in and of themselves constitute a successful security practice.
-Information security is an ongoing process of managing risk and no list
-of procedures is an adequate replacement for a thorough review of what
-information you are protecting, why and from whom paired with an
-organizational commitment to shifting operations to mitigate risk.
-Information Ecology, RoadMap Consulting and Common Counsel are not
-liable for negative outcomes associated with following these practices.
-
-Last update 4/20/2015
diff --git a/checklists_ml_tables.md b/checklists_ml_tables.md
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-\
-
-\
-
-\
-
-**PEER REVIEWED VERSION****–****FOR PUBLIC USE**
-
-DIGITAL SECURITYCHECKLISTS FOR U.S. NON-PROFITS
-
-Version 1.0
-
-\
-\
-
-**What is this document set?**
-
-This set of documents was made to help small non-profits and NGOs
-improve their digital security outcomes despite limited resources and
-technical skill availability. The content was commissioned as part of
-the Weathering The Storms initiative of RoadMap Consulting and fiscally
-sponsored by Common Counsel Foundation of Oakland, California. The
-content was researched and prepared by Jonah Silas Sheridan and Lisa
-Jervis, Principals of Information Ecology, a capacity building
-consultancy specializing in non-profit and movement technology
-management and peer reviewed by generous members of our community. Many
-other eyes and hands have helped tune the recommendations to ensure
-technical accuracy and ease of use. We are grateful to all the members
-of our community that have helped bring these documents to life.
-
-**About digital security**
-
-The typical technical definition of digital security says that it is the
-set of processes and practices used to **manage the risk**of an
-**adversary**exploiting **vulnerabilities** in your systems such that
-they may become a **threat**to the **confidentiality**, **integrity**,
-or **availability**of **digital assets** (e.g., file stores, cloud
-services, emails) or communication **channels** (e.g., instant
-messaging, telephone, video chats). What does that really mean? It means
-digital security is the work of protecting your organization's
-information from being accessed, changed, or blocked by anyone—internal
-or external, intentionally or not—who shouldn't be able to do so.
-Effective security strategies, digital or operational are based on the
-specific threats, vulnerabilities, and adversaries of your organization.
-This does not mean that a detailed analysis is necessary to get started
-improving your digital security practices. Many small U.S. organizations
-share a set of basic threats and vulnerabilities, which these documents
-are meant to help them address.
-
-All security practices require a **strong organizational commitment**,
-as they dictate changes to how you and your team work together, in
-addition to demanding ongoing attention to ensure that software and
-practices are regularly updated and working properly. The more you can
-understand about the threats your organization faces, the better you can
-select and commit to practices that will be useful for protecting your
-organization and its operating environment.
-
-We have identified solutions and practices across a range of levels of
-technical skill and organizational commitment. The effectiveness of
-these practices to protect from real threats is directly correlated with
-the level of investment you make in implementing them. With current
-tools, security measures are nearly always at odds with convenience. The
-more you can understand what actual threats there are to your systems
-the more directed (and therefore less impactful to operations) your
-security practices will be. In this was you assure that the more you put
-in to securing your systems, the more you will lower your risk of bad
-outcomes.
-
-**Why digital security checklists?**
-
-While computers have revolutionized how non-profits work, the last
-several years have begun to reveal to the general public the many risks
-associated with digital communication and information storage. While all
-organizations want to protect their information—and that of their
-partners and allies—few have a strong understanding of the relevant
-risks and most effective responses. These checklists represent
-recommendations for a set of baseline digital security practices. They
-have been created as a harm reduction step in response to incident
-reports, current research and community feedback about the threats faced
-by non-profits' computer systems.
-
-The public-health concept of harm reduction is a useful approach to any
-situation for which a perfect solution is not available. Despite being
-an incomplete solution, regular hand washing is an important part of
-limiting the risk of getting certain illnesses. Similarly a set of
-standard best practices represented by checklists cannot mitigate all
-risks, yet they can help protect you and your organization from some of
-the serious threats that come with using computers to manage your
-information. These checklists are meant as a starting point in
-understanding and responding to the most basic threats computer users
-face today. They are a necessary first step to secure our movements.
-They are not sufficient for those of us working in extremely hostile
-environments, for instance against highly repressive regimes and in
-risky areas like conflict journalism; in no case should they be a
-substitute for a more aggressive security response where warranted.
-
-\
-\
-
-**What these checklists are not (and cannot be)**
-
-Effective security is an ongoing process. It requires consistent
-practices to be undertaken by all staff, periodic review and adjustment
-to practices, and strong leadership from board and senior staff. Every
-organization faces a specific set of threats to its information, some of
-which may be completely outside the digital realm (e.g., infiltration of
-organizing meetings by a political adversary). As no set of checklists
-can address all situations, these checklists do not represent a complete
-solution for securing your organization.
-
-\
-\
-
-It is also important to recognize that security and convenience are
-generally at odds. Most security practices, both in the digital realm
-and the “real world,” consist of trade-offs between security and
-efficiency. Following the checklist recommendations will generally not
-make your work smoother and easier. Instead, many will likely create
-some disruption and training needs. In order to make meaningful strides
-in security, your organization must be prepared to make these trade-offs
-whether steep or shallow. These investments in time and attention will
-repay the organization in decreased risk to critical data and systems.
-
-\
-\
-
-Who these checklists are for
-
-Due to the variety of threats, vulnerabilities, and adversaries that
-arise in different contexts of geopolitics and scale, the
-recommendations in these checklists apply only to organizations meeting
-the following criteria:
-
-- The organization has one or more primary locations in the United
- States each with an office network that allows staff computers to
- connect to each other, internal services and the Internet. Each
- internal network is trusted to be free from outside interference and
- is segmented from the open Internet or hosting organizations'
- networks by a firewall device.
-
-- The organization can successfully protect physical access to its
- office spaces and office network equipment.
-
-- These office networks do not host any websites or other information
- resources that are meant to accessible to all users on the public
- Internet (as opposed to resources such as printers and file servers
- that are available only to users who are connected to the office
- network).
-
-- The organization uses primarily Windows or Mac computers with some
- limited use of mobile devices to access its information systems.
-
-- Although the organization may communicate with partners abroad, its
- staff do not cross international borders while carrying the
- organization's equipment or data nor regularly work in a foreign
- country.
-
-- The organization is broadly seeking to protect itself from security
- threats from non-persistent general adversaries with limited
- resources (e.g., disgruntled individuals, identity thieves,
- political opponents, internal threats) rather than the U.S.
- government, other governments or other large global entities
- including multinational corporations.
-
-If these assumptions don't apply to you, these recommendations are
-inadequate; a more rigorous information security approach, in
-partnership with a provider of professional security services, is
-strongly recommended. Contact RoadMap for help or referrals .
-
-How to use these checklists
-
-\
-\
-
-The items on these checklists are meant to be actionable and accessible;
-each checklist item includes a brief explanation of what it means as
-well as, where possible, next steps for implementation. The icons
-accompanying each item will help you identify how difficult, disruptive
-and costly a given step might be to undertake.
-
-The first checklist deals with Digital Security Readiness. If you cannot
-check off the items on that list, your organization should concentrate
-first on building the capacity to address these foundational elements
-before undertaking additional digital security improvements.
-
-\
-\
-
-Digital Security Readiness Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-**This checklist contains baseline, ongoing information systems and
-technology practices that your organization must already have in place
-in order to successfully take on a digital security initiative. If you
-cannot check off more than 75% of the items in the list below, it is
-recommended you focus on meeting these baselines before proceeding with
-other digital security work. Even if at 75% or above, be sure to note
-the unmarked items and make plans to implement them as soon as possible,
-as not doing so will likely undermine your security efforts.**
-
-Digital Security Readiness Tasks
-
-✔
-
-**Have regular and adequate technical support provided either by staff
-assigned via job description or contracted with outside agencies.**
-
-*If your existing hardware and software are not well supported,
-introducing new tools and practices will likely meet with significant
-barriers, as new technologies and tools often demand significant ongoing
-technical support for proper setup and functioning. There are as many
-ways to secure technical support as there are organizations. Talking to
-peer organizations in your area is a good way to find quality help.*
-
-\
-
-**Have a culture of training and learning, including strong technology
-training and follow up as part of new staff orientation procedures.**
-
-*New tools and practices demand end user training. If your organization
-doesn't have established practices around training, implementing
-improved and possibly complex secure practices is nearly impossible.
-Beginning with documentation and training for new hires is a wise first
-step in this area. Following up with new employees at 30 day intervals
-will ensure they continue to get the support they need to do their work
-effectively and securely.*
-
-\
-
-**Have a common and clearly communicated set of information systems that
-all staff use effectively.**
-
-*If your staff are using personal file-sharing, email, task management,
-or other accounts without knowledge or guidance from the organization,
-not only will your efficiency suffer but the environment becomes
-impractical to secure. How can you protect things you have no access to
-at an administrative level or, worse yet, don't even know are in use?*
-
-\
-
-**Have a recurrent line item for technology in your budget**
-
-*Security is an ongoing process and will require ongoing investments in
-computer equipment and software to be effective. Work with your
-technical support provider to determine an appropriate amount to put
-into this line item.*
-
-\
-
-**Provide relatively new and adequately powered computers to all staff**
-
-*Industry standard best practice is to replace laptops and desktops
-every 3 to 5 years. Encryption tools use a lot of power and can bring
-older, inadequately powered computers to a near halt, making some
-security steps untenable for staff. Money for replacing 1/3 to 1/5 of
-your computers each year should be part of your recurring technology
-budgeting.*
-
-\
-
-**Have some baseline non-technical security practices**
-
-*If you do not control your office space and access to your computers,
-your other digital security steps can be easily circumvented by walking
-into your office. Rotate alarm system codes, door codes, wireless
-network passwords and other sensitive access procedures such as
-emergency building access when staff leave the organization.*
-
-\
-
-**Make sure the computers and other devices you use, including personal
-devices that staff may use to access organizational information, are not
-compromised by malware, viruses or other intrusive software.**
-
-\
-
-*As a first step, ensure you are running antivirus software on all
-computers*
-
-*Antivirus software for Macs and Windows computers is available to
-non-profits at a discounted rate through Tech Soup
-(**http://techsoup.org**). If you haven't been running antivirus
-software or otherwise aren't sure about the status of your devices, you
-can have the operating system (OS) on it reinstalled to help guarantee
-the computer is free of malware and viruses. If reinstalling, use a copy
-from the OS provider, NOT the computer manufacturer, as manufacturers
-often bundle dangerous software in their installs. There are other ways
-in which yoru devices can be compromised which will not be remedied by
-OS install. If you suspect such an issue, get a new computer and call a
-security professional.*
-
-\
-
-**Have a disaster recovery plan that includes making regular backups of
-organizational data that are stored away from your main offices. Do not
-rely exclusively on third parties to back up and hold your
-information.**
-
-*This actually is a digital security practice itself, but
-straightforward and critical enough that it needs to come before any
-other digital security steps. Talk to your technical support provider
-about the status of your backups. Refer to the guide at the following
-link for ideas on how to improve your disaster preparedness
-http://www.techsoup.org/disaster-planning-and-recovery*
-
-\
-
-Legend: What the icons mean
-
-
-
-This icon flags columns for you to record actions you have taken. Check
-them off as you go!
-
-\
-\
-
-
-
-This icon represents the overall difficulty rating for a checklist item.
-One star items should be doable by most technology capable
-organizations. Items with two stars may require some outside assistance
-and work flow shifts. Three stars will require significant
-organizational commitment of resources and technical assistance. Items
-with four stars are only for organizations ready to take on advanced
-security practices, including the ongoing commitment of human and other
-resources needed to make them effective.
-
-\
-\
-
-
-
-This icon represents the amount of technical skill needed to undertake
-the practice. One set of tools means most skilled computer users can do,
-or be trained to do, the task. Two sets of tools require “power user”
-technical skills, often found in the “Accidental Techie” on staff. Three
-sets of tools will require a technical support person to do the work.
-Four sets of tools means you will need a technical support person with
-significant skills in networking or security to undertake the practice.
-
-\
-\
-
-
-
-This icon represents the amount of work flow disruption taking on this
-task entails, and consequently how much staff time for documentation,
-training and work shifts is required. One lightning bolt items will be
-mostly innocuous and staff can be trained in a brief session. Two
-lightning bolts means the practice will require more training and can
-disrupt existing work flows dramatically. Three lightning bolts signals
-that significant work flow shifts and training will be required to
-undertake the practice. Four lightning bolts means the task will disrupt
-work flow completely and is only for organizations where security is of
-far greater importance than efficiency or convenience.
-
-Email Safety Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-This checklist provides a number of practices that can help protect you
-and your staff when using email to communicate. Before writing an email,
-ask yourself, would I put this on a postcard that might be kept forever?
-If the answer is no, consider using other means to communicate.
-
-Think about email you receive like a shut up envelope. If you don't know
-who sent it or what is in the envelope, you should open it very
-carefully. Especially since, in the case of email, it may contain
-viruses or other threats to your organization.
-
-**If performing work using sensitive or confidential information
-including that required to be protected by law (such as personal health
-information, employment records and credit card numbers) you are must
-avoid the use of regular (non-encrypted) email to communicate that
-information. Where email is your only communication option, you may need
-to implement an encryption scheme as found in the final checklist item
-below.**
-
- Record actions ****Difficulty rating ****Technical skill level
-****Work flow disruption
-
-Email Safety Tasks
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Train your organization not to send sensitive or controversial
-information over email whenever possible.**
-
-*Information in these categories include but are not limited to credit
-card information, social security numbers, health information,
-organizational strategy, potentially damaging critiques or insults.
-Establish other practices for sharing this information such as instant
-messaging, secure downloads or plain old paper mail.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use strong passwords for all email accounts; change them on a regular
-basis, and immediately if you have any suspicion of them being used by a
-third party**
-
-*Strong passwords generally are made with a mix of letters, numbers and
-symbols and are as long as possible. Teach everyone in your organization
-how to generate and store strong passwords as well as how to reset their
-own passwords to critical accounts. Good passwords can be made a variety
-of ways. One recommended method is called Diceware:
-http://world.std.com/\~reinhold/diceware.html*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Learn to recognize suspicious behavior in your email account.**
-
-*Generally anything in your email unexpected should be looked at with
-suspicion. Be wary of any messages that ask you to do something,
-including clicking a link, opening an attachment or emailing back
-information. Be aware that it can be easy to fake email “From” addresses
-so notice any emails that don't match the usual style of the sender
-indicated in the “From” address. If someone has broken into your account
-you may see reply**messages**you don't understand, additional sent
-items, new folders or filters being created or other settings changes.
-Suspicious emails or account behavior should be reported to a technical
-support person and you should preemptively change your password.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Always login to email over a private connection**
-
-*This means using an address that starts with https:// for webmail, and
-turning on mandatory STARTTLS , SSL or TLS encryption in the settings of
-your email client. For GMail, connecting using a recent version of the
-Chrome or Firefox browser will ensure you have such a secure
-connection.*
-
-*This practice will help ensure that someone operating on a network
-between you and your email server cannot read or alter your email in
-transit. Note that if your email is sent to someone outside of your
-organization you cannot control the connections between your email
-server and the recipients' servers nor how the recipients access the
-message so it is still vulnerable to attack. to .Because you control
-your organization and mail server, following this practice may improve
-the overall security of internal email but is not justification to send
-sensitive information using email internally or externally.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Where you can, implement two factor authentication for email
-accounts.**
-
-*Many email providers have begun to offer login systems that rely on
-more that one piece of information to identify yourself. There can be
-several, but usually there are just two; your password and another code
-you have. Often this is a code sent by text message to your phone but
-can also be embedded on a special type of USB device, a program that
-generates codes on your phone or even a piece of paper with preprinted
-codes. Users will have to get used to having this extra step to login to
-new devices, but it protects from someone who obtains either item from
-getting into the account.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Don't send email attachments unless using encryption***Unencrypted
-mail attachments are not protected from being viewed or altered between
-recipients, and they end to stay in email boxes where they are harder to
-control. Perhaps more important, regular use of attachments builds and
-encourages a culture of opening them automatically, which is a major
-source of viruses, malware and associated intrusions. A better practice
-is to have files on a server and send links to documents instead of the
-documents themselves. Ideally these links lead to locations that
-themselves are protected by passwords or other authentication, or are
-temporary and expire soon after use.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Be very careful clicking links or opening attachments in emails.**
-
-*Links, often innocuous looking or even hidden within emails, are a
-major way adversaries get rogue software inside networks. Before
-clicking a link or anywhere on an email, check that it points to a
-domain name (such as roadmapconsulting.org) that you recognize and
-expect (in most email programs, as on the web, hovering over a link
-displays the URL it points to). If not, check with the sender to make
-sure you aren't being scammed. Similarly, don't open an attachment
-unless you are expecting it and the filename is in line with that
-expectation.****NEVER****open links for files from unknown senders or in
-otherwise suspicious emails.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Don't send mass email from standard accounts; instead, use a third
-party service and if possible a dedicated mass email subdomain.**
-
-*Sending bulk email from regular email accounts can lead to all sorts of
-problems for mail delivery primarily by having your accounts or domain
-name marked as a source of spam. You may also wish to send bulk email
-using a separate domain name from your main email (such as
-comms.roadmapconsulting.org) to further differentiate the traffic and
-reduce the risk of delivery problems for your regular emails.
-Additionally ensuring all email lists are opt-in (people have to confirm
-they want to receive them) and including instructions on how to
-discontinue them will minimize the chance of your emails being marked as
-spam by recipients.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Pay for a service to filter spam and viruses from email before it
-reaches your inbox**
-
-*This service comes included if you use Gmail, but doesn't with all
-email services. Filtering mail before it reaches your network lessens
-the chance of a virus or malware bearing link or attachment being
-clicked on. After initial setup this service will be nearly invisible to
-staff, but requires that someone is tasked with dealing with false
-positives and other email delivery problems. Be aware, however, that
-this item involves a significant tradeoff: filtering means that another
-company is viewing your email before it reaches you and so may increase
-risk of that information being exposed. The Electric Embers Cooperative
-(*[*http://electricembers.coop*](http://electricembers.coop/)*) offers
-such a service specifically for non-profits.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Where email is accessed on mobile or laptop devices, configure email
-clients and web browser to store as little information as possible**
-
-*Most web browsers can and should be set to clear their cache when
-closed. Most email clients can be configured to not store email offline
-and to clear caches when closed. Both can be configured not to store
-passwords as well. By configuring both this way, a lost laptop or phone
-will potentially result in far less information disclosure. Note that it
-may also mean that you need to enter a password every time you start the
-program and cannot access emails when not connected to the Internet so
-may have extreme operational impact to your team*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Establish an email phishing training and education program and test
-staff through live testing.**
-
-“*Phishing” is where emails are crafted to look as legitimate as
-possible in order to get you to click a link or attachment. This is
-actually a social engineering attack more than a technical one, and so
-addressing the human element through education is the best way forward.
-Testing people by sending fake, innocuous phishing emails, is a hard
-task, but recommended to give people a chance to practice without bad
-consequences. There are multiple companies that offer this training if
-you don't have internal capacity to provide it yourself. Contact RoadMap
-for referrals.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Setup correct DKIM and SPF records for your email domains and
-subdomains**
-
-*These are highly technical steps made in conjunction with your email
-and Domain Name Service providers to minimize the ability of spammers or
-phishers to fake emails from your organization. “Hard fail” settings are
-preferred for SPF records wherever possible. Once set up, this should
-have minimal impact on day to day operations, though it make changingo
-your email provider or infrastructure more complex. Find more
-information at*[*http://dkim.org*](http://dkim.org/)*and
-http://www.openspf.org/.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use PGP encryption to secure your email “end to end”**
-
-*This is a highly technical and labor-intensive initiative to undertake,
-but probably the most complete way to minimize any inadvertent
-disclosure of data through email. It will likely require significant
-changes to staff practices. The most common tools for using PGP
-encryption with email are the Mozilla Thunderbird email client and the
-associated Enigmail plugin . You can find a guide for that setup
-at*[*https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/thunderbird/windows*](https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/thunderbird/windows)*OSX's
-Mail program and open source add on GPGTools
-(*[*https://gpgtools.org*](https://gpgtools.org/)*) is also a workable
-tool set for using PGP encrypted email on Macs. Outlook requires a
-commercial add-on from Symantec to use PGP encryption on Windows. For
-organizations with more resources, S/MIME is an alternate encryption
-scheme that works well with a Microsoft Exchange/Outlook environment. If
-interested in either of these solutions talk to your technical support
-provider and be prepared to invest some time and resources into
-planning, implementation and training.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-\
-
-Password and Authentication Safety Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-This checklist provides a number of practices that can help you and your
-staff better curate your organization's passwords and control who
-accesses your information. While passwords are the most common form of
-authentication (that is, proving your identity to a computer system),
-other systems are emerging that offer better protection. Some are
-mentioned below.
-
-In the recommendations below, the term “organizational” is used to
-identify the group of accounts that grant access to your organization's
-online identity, backups, administrative controls and other critical
-systems. These tend to be used infrequently, but are very powerful. As
-such these passwords should be treated different from “everyday”
-credentials (the set of passwords that staff members need to perform
-their regular duties using databases, communication tools, and other
-platforms used for daily work).
-
-\
-\
-
- Record actions ****Difficulty rating ****Technical skill level
-****Work flow disruption
-
-Password and Authentication Safety Tasks
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use strong passwords for all accounts, organizational and everyday**
-
-\
-
-*Strong passwords are generally are longer that 8 characters, use a mix
-of symbols, numbers and both upper and lowercase letters, and do not
-include any dictionary words or personal information. There are many
-ways to generate strong passwords. There is an online guide to creating
-passwords as part of the the excellent Security In a Box website you can
-find
-here:*[*https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/passwords*](https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/passwords)*.*
-
-\
-
-*Diceware is another excellent scheme for creating good
-passwords:*[*http://world.std.com/\~reinhold/diceware.html*](http://world.std.com/~reinhold/diceware.html)
-
-\
-
-*Most password managers will make a random password for you, as will
-other available software for that specific purpose.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Don't use the same password for more than one site or service**
-
-\
-
-*If you don't reuse passwords , someone learning your username and
-password for one service won't make it easy to access the other accounts
-you use. Use different passwords for each service so you aren't relying
-on the provider to protect your most important secret.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Try to limit written password storage**
-
-\
-
-*Instead use techniques found in the Security In a Box online guide
-listed above to create memorable but strong passwords. If you initially
-need a written copy of your password, protect it physically by storing
-it someplace like your wallet. Try to type your password with less
-looking at the copy each time, and destroy the paper copy when you**have
-memorized the password.**If you are having trouble memorizing passwords,
-use a password manager as indicated below.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Do not tell anyone else your password(s), ever**
-
-*Even if someone claims to be from IT or technical support, do not give
-them your password. Nearly every system allows for administrative reset
-of passwords for maintenance. This creates an auditable trail that you
-account was accessed and alerts you as well. Although changing your
-password afterwards is an extra step, it will ensure that you and only
-you have access to your digital information.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Consider making single use passwords for sites you rarely use**
-
-*If you need to create an account for something that you do not expect
-to use frequently and where you can reset the password easily by email,
-you may just wish to generate a very long random string of numbers,
-letters and symbols and not record it anywhere or remember it. Most
-password managers will make a random password for you, as will other
-available software for that specific purpose. This service will now have
-a password stronger than if you made one and tried to remember it.*
-
-*The next time you need to login to that service you can hit the “forgot
-password link” to get a login link and repeat the process. This is a
-little slower , perhaps, than a stored password but the benefit is that
-you will never leak your password for that tool – because you don't know
-it! Of course you wouldn't do this with an account you use all the time
-but it is useful to ease the password management load. Recognize that
-this reduces the security of the account using a “single use” password
-to the security of your email account (since you use that to get back
-into the service) so your email password needs to be strong and
-memorable.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Have all staff use password manager software**
-
-*There are many passwords associated with modern work flows. Because
-they could be used to disrupt your work in various ways passwords need
-to be protected. They shouldn't be stored in spreadsheets, text files or
-word processor documents (even password protected ones as they are
-simple to break open).*
-
-\
-
-*Instead password manager software is available which stores all of your
-passwords in a secure file and can easily take care of all of the
-checklist items above. You just remember a single password to open that
-file up and then can have an array of unique, complex passwords for all
-yoru services.*
-
-\
-
-*KeePass and KeePassX use the same encrypted file format, can run on
-most any computer and so are recommended password managers. Security In
-a Box also has a KeePass overview here:
-https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/keepass/windows*
-
-\
-
-*Web browsers are insecure environments for password storage and
-handling, but their central role in many organizations has made
-web-based tools for password management very popular. Evaluating online
-services and their current security claims is outside of the scope of
-this document. We acknowledge that online password management tools
-often have adequate security levels for many organizations' everyday
-password handling needs; however,they are not recommended for storing
-core organizational passwords or other highly sensitive information.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Separate organizational and everyday passwords**
-
-\
-
-*Organizational passwords include any passwords that grant
-administrative control of your organization's information systems or
-online identity . These are very powerful credentials and so should be
-stored separately from passwords that just get staff into their personal
-user accounts. You can do this by making a separate login or file in
-your password manager application, or by choosing a completely different
-manager altogether.*
-
-\
-
-*Placing organizational passwords in a KeePass file that only a few key
-staff members can access will lessen the risks of adopting an online
-password manager for everyday passwords, but will also place a burden on
-those staff members. Balancing these needs should be factored in your
-decision.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-*t*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Set minimum password lengths and enforce complexity rules on services
-where you can do so, and regularly monitor user password strength.**
-
-*On many platforms including Windows Active Directory and Google Apps
-you can set controls at an administrative level to ensure people use
-strong passwords. It takes some advance planning and staff training, as
-setting up these controls without being clear on the implications can
-lock people out of their computers or work files . In addition, someone
-will need to be designated as the point person for resolving problems
-that arise from these controls. This step does however improve the
-security of all users at one time so is highly recommended.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-\
-
-Public Wireless Network Safety Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-This checklist provides a number or practices that can help protect you
-and your staff when using publicly available wireless networks such as
-those in hotels, cafés and airports. Because there are so many ways that
-wireless networks can be compromised, this checklist is not exhaustive.
-
-**If performing work using sensitive or confidential information
-including that required to be protected by law (such as personal health
-information) you are best off avoiding the use of public networks for
-those tasks.**
-
- Record actions ****Difficulty rating ****Technical skill level
-****Work flow disruption
-
-Public Wireless Network Safety Tasks
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Keep all web browser software, including extensions, updated to the
-latest version. Prefer Firefox or Chrome browsers. Only use Internet
-Explorer and Safari when required.**
-
-*Internet Explorer has had a much higher incidence of vulnerabilities
-than Chrome and Firefox while Safari has suffered some recent security
-concerns. Although nearly all of the latest browsers support
-“certificate pinning”**which makes it harder to intercept secure
-connections,**Chrome and Firefox have led the development of this
-important feature. These browsers can be downloaded
-from*[*https://getfirefox.com*](https://getfirefox.com/)*and
-https://google.com/chrome.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Install the HTTPS Everywhere extension for all of the web browsers you
-use on your system.**
-
-*This step will help ensure that more sites you visit and information
-you submit to them cannot be seen by others on the wireless network or
-the operator of the network itself.********You can install the extension
-from the following page: https://www.eff.org/HTTPS-EVERYWHERE*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Install Privacy Badger, a browser add-on which will limit the
-“cookies” - small persistent chunks of information - set on your
-computer by websites**
-
-*Privacy Badger is software produced by the non-profit Electronic
-Frontier Foundation (https://eff.org) to help reduce the privacy
-breaches and tracking that come with the use of cookies. These cookies
-can be transferred insecurely so can, if poorly implemented, expose
-login credentials or other information in transit. As an extra benefit,
-you will increase you privacy and lessen your online tracking as a
-result of using this software. Download it at
-https://privacybadger.org.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Prefer wireless networks that use a password, ideally a unique one for
-each person connecting, and preferably using WPA or WPA2 encryption
-rather than WEP encryption.**
-
-*A password on a wireless network means the information moving across it
-is less easily captured and decoded by someone nearby. If everyone has a
-unique password this gets even harder. WPA and WPA2 offer stronger
-protection than WEP, which is now relatively easily compromised. You can
-easily view what encryption is in use on most computers. In OSX, hold
-down the Option key and click the wireless indicator in the top right
-corner to reveal extra information about each wireless network. The
-method for viewing these details is different in each version of Windows
-so ask your tech support provider for assistance for the software you
-use..*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Confirm the network details before you connect.**
-
-*An attacker can setup an access point with a name similar or identical
-to a legitimate one, so that you connect to it instead of the network
-you intend. Make sure to ask the proprietor of a public network what the
-network name and password are, and connect to the network with that name
-that accepts that password. This doesn't completely guarantee that the
-network you are connecting to isn't hostile or compromised, but it makes
-the difficulty of hijacking your connection much higher.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Turn off the built-in file sharing functionality on your computer or
-device**
-
-*Although handy for sharing files with peers, the built-in file sharing
-functionality on your computer is vulnerable to abuse or accidental
-information leakage. It is preferable to set up alternate tools and
-practices for sharing files, such as a central file repository.*
-
-*To turn off file sharing on a Mac, go to Apple menu \> System
-Preferences, then click Sharing and make sure all the boxes are
-unchecked.*
-
-*See this article for turning off file sharing on a Windows computer:
-https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/307874*
-
-*Recognize that if you are currently using the built-in file sharing
-functionality to share files inside an office, doing this will disrupt
-current work practices.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Turn on your computer's firewall and disallow all external
-connections**
-
-*A firewall prevents unauthorized connections from other computers on
-the wireless network. There is a built in firewall in every computer,
-but it is not turned on by default and may allow connections to certain
-services. The firewall settings can be found on Macs in System
-Preferences\>Security. On Windows computers, the firewall settings are
-in the System and Security tool in Control Panel. More information about
-Windows Firewall can be found here:
-http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/firewalls-using.aspx*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Ensure that the wireless network is not presenting false
-certificates**
-
-*Increasingly, networks are set up to monitor traffic for various
-reasons such as ad placement or content filtering. However, this
-potentially compromises all secure connections, as it allows traffic to
-be monitored via the same mechanism in what is called a
-Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attack.. The network device will replace the
-security certificate from the service you are connecting to with one of
-its own. Anyone with access to that device can see any communication
-between you and that service. Learning to view certificates in your web
-browser, or installing and learning to use a tool such as Certificate
-Patrol (available only for Firefox; read more at
-http://patrol.psyced.org/) will help you identify*
-
-*Viewing certificate information in
-Chrome:*[*https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95617?hl=en*](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95617?hl=en)
-
-\
-
-*Viewing certificate information in Firefox:*
-
-[*https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-tell-if-my-connection-is-secure*](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-tell-if-my-connection-is-secure)
-
-*https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/secure-website-certificate*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to securely tunnel out of public
-networks**
-
-*A VPN creates a secure connection for your computers to use to access
-the office network and the Internet. This connection, or tunnel, can be
-used to hide all information moving from your computers to the Internet
-or office network from the operator or other users of the wireless
-network. Use of a VPN severely limits the amount of trust you have to
-place in the owner and operator of the network you are on and so limits
-your exposure to them. These factors make VPNs a very effective way to
-protect your self on untrusted networks.*
-
-\
-
-*A VPN is implemented via a device you own located in your office or at
-an offsite facility, or that a third party provides you use of for a
-fee. Choosing a VPN provider and setting up computers to use it are not
-simple tasks, and critically important**–**a misstep in setup or use can
-expose your information or bring your work to a crawl. In addition VPNs
-add a layer of network traffic and will slow down your Internet access
-so your distance to and bandwidth available from your VPN provider (or
-office if hosting your own) will make a difference to performance.*
-
-\
-
-*Consider if the speed tradeoff is acceptable to you before choosing to
-implement a VPN. If you do, the investment in implementation, setup and
-hassle is repaid by a solution that*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-\
-\
-
-Glossary
-
-\
-\
-
-**Backup**. Regularly updated copies of your digital assets, ideally
-stored in several different places, so that if access to or integrity of
-your data is disrupted for any reason (damage to computers due to
-accident or natural disaster, accidental or malicious deletion of files,
-etc.), the assets can be restored. Online backup services such as Mozy
-and CrashPlan are best supplemented by backups stored on organizational
-equipment and in secure offsite storage.
-
-**Cookies**. Small files placed on your computer by websites that you
-visit; they are used to manage website features such as logins and can
-also be used to track behavior on the web. While not all cookies are a
-security risk, if poorly implemented they can expose the information
-they contain. More information about cookies is available at
-http://www.allaboutcookies.org/.
-
-**Digital assets**. Any and all data electronically stored or used by
-your organization. This includes your organization's files, website,
-emails, social media accounts, online banking accounts, etc. Some of
-these items may be ones that you administer yourself (e.g., the contents
-of staff hard drives, file repositories stored on servers owned and
-controlled by your organization); others may be maintained by
-third-party services on your behalf (e.g., files on Google Drive or
-Box). Others are services that you participate in that are owned and
-controlled by others (subject to terms of service), such as
-organizational Facebook pages.
-
-**DKIM records**. DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is a system to
-protect email from abuse, both from forged sender addresses and from
-content alteration. The system operates at the server level so requires
-help from your email provider to setup.
-
-**Domain Name System.**The domain name system (DNS) is like a phone book
-for the Internet. It translates domain names (such as
-roadmapconsulting.org or whitehouse.gov) into the numbers (ip addresses)
-used to find services on the Internet. It can also be used to store
-other information about your organizatio's informatio systems, such as
-SPF records or DKIM keys.
-
-**Encryption**. A mechanism by which your data scrambled in order to
-protect it from being read by unauthorized parties. Authorized parties
-have are able to decrypt (i.e., unscramble) it. There are many different
-ways to encrypt communications and other digital assets.
-
-**Encryption Key.**An encryption key is a piece of information that you
-share with an authorized party so they can encrypt and/or decrypt
-information to or from you. In most cases this information is highly
-sensitive and needs to be protected however modern encryption schemes
-allow you to have a “public” key that you can safely share with anyone.
-
-**Extensions**. Small pieces of software that you install as part of
-your web browser in order to give your browser additional capabilities.
-
-**Firewall.**A piece of software or hardware device that analyzes and
-selectively blocks or alters information passing between two networks.
-Common places to find firewalls are between your office network and the
-Internet and on your computer to protect you from other computers on
-your office network.
-
-**Office network**. The equipment in your office that allows staff
-computers to connect to each other, on site resources such as file
-servers and to the Internet. If you cannot trust that nobody else is
-controlling this network your security progress will be compromised.
-
-**Password manager software**. Software that keeps your passwords in an
-encrypted format, protected by a master password. This allows you to
-store multiple passwords by remembering only one. Password managers are
-available as software that you install (e.g., KeePass) and as a
-web-based service (e.g., LastPass). While web-based password managers
-can be secure enough to hold the passwords staff use to access their
-accounts for everyday purposes, they are not recommended to store the
-passwords that grant administrative access to core organizational
-accounts.
-
-**Security certificates**. Security certificates are a specific kind of
-file that includes an encryption key, and often times additional
-information about that key. Websites such as used for banking and other
-services frequently use them to allow you to establish a secure
-connection with their servers.
-
-**SPF records**. Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a system that allows
-you to tell others what servers and services are allowed to send email
-for your organization's domain name. Setting up this record requires the
-assistance of your DNS provider and can have unintended negative
-consequences for your email delivery if not properly done.
-
-**Virtual Private Network (VPN)**. A connection between computers that
-them to exchange information in an encrypted form. This can allow you to
-both “tunnel out of” a network you don't trust or to get you access to
-information on your office network from someplace else on the Internet.
-
-**Wireless Access Point.**A wireless access point (WAP) is a piece of
-hardware configured to host a wireless network. In many small networks
-the WAP will also be a firewall separating the network from the rest of
-the Internet.
-
-**WEP, WPA and WPA2**. All are methods of encrypting wireless network
-traffic between a device like a computer or phone and a wireless access
-point. WEP is an older encryption method and it is far less secure than
-WPA and WPA2, which are newer methods.
-
-\
-\
-
-\
-\
-
-i
-
-\
-
-nformation ecology, llc \* oakland, california
-
-https://iecology.org \* 510-479-9779 \* info@iecology.org
-
-\
-\
-
-**Please Note**: Although these practices are highly recommended they do
-not in and of themselves constitute a successful security practice.
-Information security is an ongoing process of managing risk and no list
-of procedures is an adequate replacement for a thorough review of what
-information you are protecting, why and from whom paired with an
-organizational commitment to shifting operations to mitigate risk.
-Information Ecology, RoadMap Consulting and Common Counsel are not
-liable for negative outcomes associated with following these practices.
-
-Last update 4/20/2015
diff --git a/checklists_pipe_tables.md b/checklists_pipe_tables.md
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-\
-
-\
-
-\
-
-**PEER REVIEWED VERSION****–****FOR PUBLIC USE**
-
-DIGITAL SECURITYCHECKLISTS FOR U.S. NON-PROFITS
-
-Version 1.0
-
-\
-\
-
-**What is this document set?**
-
-This set of documents was made to help small non-profits and NGOs
-improve their digital security outcomes despite limited resources and
-technical skill availability. The content was commissioned as part of
-the Weathering The Storms initiative of RoadMap Consulting and fiscally
-sponsored by Common Counsel Foundation of Oakland, California. The
-content was researched and prepared by Jonah Silas Sheridan and Lisa
-Jervis, Principals of Information Ecology, a capacity building
-consultancy specializing in non-profit and movement technology
-management and peer reviewed by generous members of our community. Many
-other eyes and hands have helped tune the recommendations to ensure
-technical accuracy and ease of use. We are grateful to all the members
-of our community that have helped bring these documents to life.
-
-**About digital security**
-
-The typical technical definition of digital security says that it is the
-set of processes and practices used to **manage the risk**of an
-**adversary**exploiting **vulnerabilities** in your systems such that
-they may become a **threat**to the **confidentiality**, **integrity**,
-or **availability**of **digital assets** (e.g., file stores, cloud
-services, emails) or communication **channels** (e.g., instant
-messaging, telephone, video chats). What does that really mean? It means
-digital security is the work of protecting your organization's
-information from being accessed, changed, or blocked by anyone—internal
-or external, intentionally or not—who shouldn't be able to do so.
-Effective security strategies, digital or operational are based on the
-specific threats, vulnerabilities, and adversaries of your organization.
-This does not mean that a detailed analysis is necessary to get started
-improving your digital security practices. Many small U.S. organizations
-share a set of basic threats and vulnerabilities, which these documents
-are meant to help them address.
-
-All security practices require a **strong organizational commitment**,
-as they dictate changes to how you and your team work together, in
-addition to demanding ongoing attention to ensure that software and
-practices are regularly updated and working properly. The more you can
-understand about the threats your organization faces, the better you can
-select and commit to practices that will be useful for protecting your
-organization and its operating environment.
-
-We have identified solutions and practices across a range of levels of
-technical skill and organizational commitment. The effectiveness of
-these practices to protect from real threats is directly correlated with
-the level of investment you make in implementing them. With current
-tools, security measures are nearly always at odds with convenience. The
-more you can understand what actual threats there are to your systems
-the more directed (and therefore less impactful to operations) your
-security practices will be. In this was you assure that the more you put
-in to securing your systems, the more you will lower your risk of bad
-outcomes.
-
-**Why digital security checklists?**
-
-While computers have revolutionized how non-profits work, the last
-several years have begun to reveal to the general public the many risks
-associated with digital communication and information storage. While all
-organizations want to protect their information—and that of their
-partners and allies—few have a strong understanding of the relevant
-risks and most effective responses. These checklists represent
-recommendations for a set of baseline digital security practices. They
-have been created as a harm reduction step in response to incident
-reports, current research and community feedback about the threats faced
-by non-profits' computer systems.
-
-The public-health concept of harm reduction is a useful approach to any
-situation for which a perfect solution is not available. Despite being
-an incomplete solution, regular hand washing is an important part of
-limiting the risk of getting certain illnesses. Similarly a set of
-standard best practices represented by checklists cannot mitigate all
-risks, yet they can help protect you and your organization from some of
-the serious threats that come with using computers to manage your
-information. These checklists are meant as a starting point in
-understanding and responding to the most basic threats computer users
-face today. They are a necessary first step to secure our movements.
-They are not sufficient for those of us working in extremely hostile
-environments, for instance against highly repressive regimes and in
-risky areas like conflict journalism; in no case should they be a
-substitute for a more aggressive security response where warranted.
-
-\
-\
-
-**What these checklists are not (and cannot be)**
-
-Effective security is an ongoing process. It requires consistent
-practices to be undertaken by all staff, periodic review and adjustment
-to practices, and strong leadership from board and senior staff. Every
-organization faces a specific set of threats to its information, some of
-which may be completely outside the digital realm (e.g., infiltration of
-organizing meetings by a political adversary). As no set of checklists
-can address all situations, these checklists do not represent a complete
-solution for securing your organization.
-
-\
-\
-
-It is also important to recognize that security and convenience are
-generally at odds. Most security practices, both in the digital realm
-and the “real world,” consist of trade-offs between security and
-efficiency. Following the checklist recommendations will generally not
-make your work smoother and easier. Instead, many will likely create
-some disruption and training needs. In order to make meaningful strides
-in security, your organization must be prepared to make these trade-offs
-whether steep or shallow. These investments in time and attention will
-repay the organization in decreased risk to critical data and systems.
-
-\
-\
-
-Who these checklists are for
-
-Due to the variety of threats, vulnerabilities, and adversaries that
-arise in different contexts of geopolitics and scale, the
-recommendations in these checklists apply only to organizations meeting
-the following criteria:
-
-- The organization has one or more primary locations in the United
- States each with an office network that allows staff computers to
- connect to each other, internal services and the Internet. Each
- internal network is trusted to be free from outside interference and
- is segmented from the open Internet or hosting organizations'
- networks by a firewall device.
-
-- The organization can successfully protect physical access to its
- office spaces and office network equipment.
-
-- These office networks do not host any websites or other information
- resources that are meant to accessible to all users on the public
- Internet (as opposed to resources such as printers and file servers
- that are available only to users who are connected to the office
- network).
-
-- The organization uses primarily Windows or Mac computers with some
- limited use of mobile devices to access its information systems.
-
-- Although the organization may communicate with partners abroad, its
- staff do not cross international borders while carrying the
- organization's equipment or data nor regularly work in a foreign
- country.
-
-- The organization is broadly seeking to protect itself from security
- threats from non-persistent general adversaries with limited
- resources (e.g., disgruntled individuals, identity thieves,
- political opponents, internal threats) rather than the U.S.
- government, other governments or other large global entities
- including multinational corporations.
-
-If these assumptions don't apply to you, these recommendations are
-inadequate; a more rigorous information security approach, in
-partnership with a provider of professional security services, is
-strongly recommended. Contact RoadMap for help or referrals .
-
-How to use these checklists
-
-\
-\
-
-The items on these checklists are meant to be actionable and accessible;
-each checklist item includes a brief explanation of what it means as
-well as, where possible, next steps for implementation. The icons
-accompanying each item will help you identify how difficult, disruptive
-and costly a given step might be to undertake.
-
-The first checklist deals with Digital Security Readiness. If you cannot
-check off the items on that list, your organization should concentrate
-first on building the capacity to address these foundational elements
-before undertaking additional digital security improvements.
-
-\
-\
-
-Digital Security Readiness Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-**This checklist contains baseline, ongoing information systems and
-technology practices that your organization must already have in place
-in order to successfully take on a digital security initiative. If you
-cannot check off more than 75% of the items in the list below, it is
-recommended you focus on meeting these baselines before proceeding with
-other digital security work. Even if at 75% or above, be sure to note
-the unmarked items and make plans to implement them as soon as possible,
-as not doing so will likely undermine your security efforts.**
-
-Digital Security Readiness Tasks
-
-✔
-
-**Have regular and adequate technical support provided either by staff
-assigned via job description or contracted with outside agencies.**
-
-*If your existing hardware and software are not well supported,
-introducing new tools and practices will likely meet with significant
-barriers, as new technologies and tools often demand significant ongoing
-technical support for proper setup and functioning. There are as many
-ways to secure technical support as there are organizations. Talking to
-peer organizations in your area is a good way to find quality help.*
-
-\
-
-**Have a culture of training and learning, including strong technology
-training and follow up as part of new staff orientation procedures.**
-
-*New tools and practices demand end user training. If your organization
-doesn't have established practices around training, implementing
-improved and possibly complex secure practices is nearly impossible.
-Beginning with documentation and training for new hires is a wise first
-step in this area. Following up with new employees at 30 day intervals
-will ensure they continue to get the support they need to do their work
-effectively and securely.*
-
-\
-
-**Have a common and clearly communicated set of information systems that
-all staff use effectively.**
-
-*If your staff are using personal file-sharing, email, task management,
-or other accounts without knowledge or guidance from the organization,
-not only will your efficiency suffer but the environment becomes
-impractical to secure. How can you protect things you have no access to
-at an administrative level or, worse yet, don't even know are in use?*
-
-\
-
-**Have a recurrent line item for technology in your budget**
-
-*Security is an ongoing process and will require ongoing investments in
-computer equipment and software to be effective. Work with your
-technical support provider to determine an appropriate amount to put
-into this line item.*
-
-\
-
-**Provide relatively new and adequately powered computers to all staff**
-
-*Industry standard best practice is to replace laptops and desktops
-every 3 to 5 years. Encryption tools use a lot of power and can bring
-older, inadequately powered computers to a near halt, making some
-security steps untenable for staff. Money for replacing 1/3 to 1/5 of
-your computers each year should be part of your recurring technology
-budgeting.*
-
-\
-
-**Have some baseline non-technical security practices**
-
-*If you do not control your office space and access to your computers,
-your other digital security steps can be easily circumvented by walking
-into your office. Rotate alarm system codes, door codes, wireless
-network passwords and other sensitive access procedures such as
-emergency building access when staff leave the organization.*
-
-\
-
-**Make sure the computers and other devices you use, including personal
-devices that staff may use to access organizational information, are not
-compromised by malware, viruses or other intrusive software.**
-
-\
-
-*As a first step, ensure you are running antivirus software on all
-computers*
-
-*Antivirus software for Macs and Windows computers is available to
-non-profits at a discounted rate through Tech Soup
-(**http://techsoup.org**). If you haven't been running antivirus
-software or otherwise aren't sure about the status of your devices, you
-can have the operating system (OS) on it reinstalled to help guarantee
-the computer is free of malware and viruses. If reinstalling, use a copy
-from the OS provider, NOT the computer manufacturer, as manufacturers
-often bundle dangerous software in their installs. There are other ways
-in which yoru devices can be compromised which will not be remedied by
-OS install. If you suspect such an issue, get a new computer and call a
-security professional.*
-
-\
-
-**Have a disaster recovery plan that includes making regular backups of
-organizational data that are stored away from your main offices. Do not
-rely exclusively on third parties to back up and hold your
-information.**
-
-*This actually is a digital security practice itself, but
-straightforward and critical enough that it needs to come before any
-other digital security steps. Talk to your technical support provider
-about the status of your backups. Refer to the guide at the following
-link for ideas on how to improve your disaster preparedness
-http://www.techsoup.org/disaster-planning-and-recovery*
-
-\
-
-Legend: What the icons mean
-
-
-
-This icon flags columns for you to record actions you have taken. Check
-them off as you go!
-
-\
-\
-
-
-
-This icon represents the overall difficulty rating for a checklist item.
-One star items should be doable by most technology capable
-organizations. Items with two stars may require some outside assistance
-and work flow shifts. Three stars will require significant
-organizational commitment of resources and technical assistance. Items
-with four stars are only for organizations ready to take on advanced
-security practices, including the ongoing commitment of human and other
-resources needed to make them effective.
-
-\
-\
-
-
-
-This icon represents the amount of technical skill needed to undertake
-the practice. One set of tools means most skilled computer users can do,
-or be trained to do, the task. Two sets of tools require “power user”
-technical skills, often found in the “Accidental Techie” on staff. Three
-sets of tools will require a technical support person to do the work.
-Four sets of tools means you will need a technical support person with
-significant skills in networking or security to undertake the practice.
-
-\
-\
-
-
-
-This icon represents the amount of work flow disruption taking on this
-task entails, and consequently how much staff time for documentation,
-training and work shifts is required. One lightning bolt items will be
-mostly innocuous and staff can be trained in a brief session. Two
-lightning bolts means the practice will require more training and can
-disrupt existing work flows dramatically. Three lightning bolts signals
-that significant work flow shifts and training will be required to
-undertake the practice. Four lightning bolts means the task will disrupt
-work flow completely and is only for organizations where security is of
-far greater importance than efficiency or convenience.
-
-Email Safety Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-This checklist provides a number of practices that can help protect you
-and your staff when using email to communicate. Before writing an email,
-ask yourself, would I put this on a postcard that might be kept forever?
-If the answer is no, consider using other means to communicate.
-
-Think about email you receive like a shut up envelope. If you don't know
-who sent it or what is in the envelope, you should open it very
-carefully. Especially since, in the case of email, it may contain
-viruses or other threats to your organization.
-
-**If performing work using sensitive or confidential information
-including that required to be protected by law (such as personal health
-information, employment records and credit card numbers) you are must
-avoid the use of regular (non-encrypted) email to communicate that
-information. Where email is your only communication option, you may need
-to implement an encryption scheme as found in the final checklist item
-below.**
-
- Record actions ****Difficulty rating ****Technical skill level
-****Work flow disruption
-
-Email Safety Tasks
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Train your organization not to send sensitive or controversial
-information over email whenever possible.**
-
-*Information in these categories include but are not limited to credit
-card information, social security numbers, health information,
-organizational strategy, potentially damaging critiques or insults.
-Establish other practices for sharing this information such as instant
-messaging, secure downloads or plain old paper mail.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use strong passwords for all email accounts; change them on a regular
-basis, and immediately if you have any suspicion of them being used by a
-third party**
-
-*Strong passwords generally are made with a mix of letters, numbers and
-symbols and are as long as possible. Teach everyone in your organization
-how to generate and store strong passwords as well as how to reset their
-own passwords to critical accounts. Good passwords can be made a variety
-of ways. One recommended method is called Diceware:
-http://world.std.com/\~reinhold/diceware.html*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Learn to recognize suspicious behavior in your email account.**
-
-*Generally anything in your email unexpected should be looked at with
-suspicion. Be wary of any messages that ask you to do something,
-including clicking a link, opening an attachment or emailing back
-information. Be aware that it can be easy to fake email “From” addresses
-so notice any emails that don't match the usual style of the sender
-indicated in the “From” address. If someone has broken into your account
-you may see reply**messages**you don't understand, additional sent
-items, new folders or filters being created or other settings changes.
-Suspicious emails or account behavior should be reported to a technical
-support person and you should preemptively change your password.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Always login to email over a private connection**
-
-*This means using an address that starts with https:// for webmail, and
-turning on mandatory STARTTLS , SSL or TLS encryption in the settings of
-your email client. For GMail, connecting using a recent version of the
-Chrome or Firefox browser will ensure you have such a secure
-connection.*
-
-*This practice will help ensure that someone operating on a network
-between you and your email server cannot read or alter your email in
-transit. Note that if your email is sent to someone outside of your
-organization you cannot control the connections between your email
-server and the recipients' servers nor how the recipients access the
-message so it is still vulnerable to attack. to .Because you control
-your organization and mail server, following this practice may improve
-the overall security of internal email but is not justification to send
-sensitive information using email internally or externally.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Where you can, implement two factor authentication for email
-accounts.**
-
-*Many email providers have begun to offer login systems that rely on
-more that one piece of information to identify yourself. There can be
-several, but usually there are just two; your password and another code
-you have. Often this is a code sent by text message to your phone but
-can also be embedded on a special type of USB device, a program that
-generates codes on your phone or even a piece of paper with preprinted
-codes. Users will have to get used to having this extra step to login to
-new devices, but it protects from someone who obtains either item from
-getting into the account.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Don't send email attachments unless using encryption***Unencrypted
-mail attachments are not protected from being viewed or altered between
-recipients, and they end to stay in email boxes where they are harder to
-control. Perhaps more important, regular use of attachments builds and
-encourages a culture of opening them automatically, which is a major
-source of viruses, malware and associated intrusions. A better practice
-is to have files on a server and send links to documents instead of the
-documents themselves. Ideally these links lead to locations that
-themselves are protected by passwords or other authentication, or are
-temporary and expire soon after use.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Be very careful clicking links or opening attachments in emails.**
-
-*Links, often innocuous looking or even hidden within emails, are a
-major way adversaries get rogue software inside networks. Before
-clicking a link or anywhere on an email, check that it points to a
-domain name (such as roadmapconsulting.org) that you recognize and
-expect (in most email programs, as on the web, hovering over a link
-displays the URL it points to). If not, check with the sender to make
-sure you aren't being scammed. Similarly, don't open an attachment
-unless you are expecting it and the filename is in line with that
-expectation.****NEVER****open links for files from unknown senders or in
-otherwise suspicious emails.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Don't send mass email from standard accounts; instead, use a third
-party service and if possible a dedicated mass email subdomain.**
-
-*Sending bulk email from regular email accounts can lead to all sorts of
-problems for mail delivery primarily by having your accounts or domain
-name marked as a source of spam. You may also wish to send bulk email
-using a separate domain name from your main email (such as
-comms.roadmapconsulting.org) to further differentiate the traffic and
-reduce the risk of delivery problems for your regular emails.
-Additionally ensuring all email lists are opt-in (people have to confirm
-they want to receive them) and including instructions on how to
-discontinue them will minimize the chance of your emails being marked as
-spam by recipients.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Pay for a service to filter spam and viruses from email before it
-reaches your inbox**
-
-*This service comes included if you use Gmail, but doesn't with all
-email services. Filtering mail before it reaches your network lessens
-the chance of a virus or malware bearing link or attachment being
-clicked on. After initial setup this service will be nearly invisible to
-staff, but requires that someone is tasked with dealing with false
-positives and other email delivery problems. Be aware, however, that
-this item involves a significant tradeoff: filtering means that another
-company is viewing your email before it reaches you and so may increase
-risk of that information being exposed. The Electric Embers Cooperative
-(*[*http://electricembers.coop*](http://electricembers.coop/)*) offers
-such a service specifically for non-profits.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Where email is accessed on mobile or laptop devices, configure email
-clients and web browser to store as little information as possible**
-
-*Most web browsers can and should be set to clear their cache when
-closed. Most email clients can be configured to not store email offline
-and to clear caches when closed. Both can be configured not to store
-passwords as well. By configuring both this way, a lost laptop or phone
-will potentially result in far less information disclosure. Note that it
-may also mean that you need to enter a password every time you start the
-program and cannot access emails when not connected to the Internet so
-may have extreme operational impact to your team*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Establish an email phishing training and education program and test
-staff through live testing.**
-
-“*Phishing” is where emails are crafted to look as legitimate as
-possible in order to get you to click a link or attachment. This is
-actually a social engineering attack more than a technical one, and so
-addressing the human element through education is the best way forward.
-Testing people by sending fake, innocuous phishing emails, is a hard
-task, but recommended to give people a chance to practice without bad
-consequences. There are multiple companies that offer this training if
-you don't have internal capacity to provide it yourself. Contact RoadMap
-for referrals.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Setup correct DKIM and SPF records for your email domains and
-subdomains**
-
-*These are highly technical steps made in conjunction with your email
-and Domain Name Service providers to minimize the ability of spammers or
-phishers to fake emails from your organization. “Hard fail” settings are
-preferred for SPF records wherever possible. Once set up, this should
-have minimal impact on day to day operations, though it make changingo
-your email provider or infrastructure more complex. Find more
-information at*[*http://dkim.org*](http://dkim.org/)*and
-http://www.openspf.org/.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use PGP encryption to secure your email “end to end”**
-
-*This is a highly technical and labor-intensive initiative to undertake,
-but probably the most complete way to minimize any inadvertent
-disclosure of data through email. It will likely require significant
-changes to staff practices. The most common tools for using PGP
-encryption with email are the Mozilla Thunderbird email client and the
-associated Enigmail plugin . You can find a guide for that setup
-at*[*https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/thunderbird/windows*](https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/thunderbird/windows)*OSX's
-Mail program and open source add on GPGTools
-(*[*https://gpgtools.org*](https://gpgtools.org/)*) is also a workable
-tool set for using PGP encrypted email on Macs. Outlook requires a
-commercial add-on from Symantec to use PGP encryption on Windows. For
-organizations with more resources, S/MIME is an alternate encryption
-scheme that works well with a Microsoft Exchange/Outlook environment. If
-interested in either of these solutions talk to your technical support
-provider and be prepared to invest some time and resources into
-planning, implementation and training.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-\
-
-Password and Authentication Safety Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-This checklist provides a number of practices that can help you and your
-staff better curate your organization's passwords and control who
-accesses your information. While passwords are the most common form of
-authentication (that is, proving your identity to a computer system),
-other systems are emerging that offer better protection. Some are
-mentioned below.
-
-In the recommendations below, the term “organizational” is used to
-identify the group of accounts that grant access to your organization's
-online identity, backups, administrative controls and other critical
-systems. These tend to be used infrequently, but are very powerful. As
-such these passwords should be treated different from “everyday”
-credentials (the set of passwords that staff members need to perform
-their regular duties using databases, communication tools, and other
-platforms used for daily work).
-
-\
-\
-
- Record actions ****Difficulty rating ****Technical skill level
-****Work flow disruption
-
-Password and Authentication Safety Tasks
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use strong passwords for all accounts, organizational and everyday**
-
-\
-
-*Strong passwords are generally are longer that 8 characters, use a mix
-of symbols, numbers and both upper and lowercase letters, and do not
-include any dictionary words or personal information. There are many
-ways to generate strong passwords. There is an online guide to creating
-passwords as part of the the excellent Security In a Box website you can
-find
-here:*[*https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/passwords*](https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/passwords)*.*
-
-\
-
-*Diceware is another excellent scheme for creating good
-passwords:*[*http://world.std.com/\~reinhold/diceware.html*](http://world.std.com/~reinhold/diceware.html)
-
-\
-
-*Most password managers will make a random password for you, as will
-other available software for that specific purpose.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Don't use the same password for more than one site or service**
-
-\
-
-*If you don't reuse passwords , someone learning your username and
-password for one service won't make it easy to access the other accounts
-you use. Use different passwords for each service so you aren't relying
-on the provider to protect your most important secret.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Try to limit written password storage**
-
-\
-
-*Instead use techniques found in the Security In a Box online guide
-listed above to create memorable but strong passwords. If you initially
-need a written copy of your password, protect it physically by storing
-it someplace like your wallet. Try to type your password with less
-looking at the copy each time, and destroy the paper copy when you**have
-memorized the password.**If you are having trouble memorizing passwords,
-use a password manager as indicated below.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Do not tell anyone else your password(s), ever**
-
-*Even if someone claims to be from IT or technical support, do not give
-them your password. Nearly every system allows for administrative reset
-of passwords for maintenance. This creates an auditable trail that you
-account was accessed and alerts you as well. Although changing your
-password afterwards is an extra step, it will ensure that you and only
-you have access to your digital information.*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Consider making single use passwords for sites you rarely use**
-
-*If you need to create an account for something that you do not expect
-to use frequently and where you can reset the password easily by email,
-you may just wish to generate a very long random string of numbers,
-letters and symbols and not record it anywhere or remember it. Most
-password managers will make a random password for you, as will other
-available software for that specific purpose. This service will now have
-a password stronger than if you made one and tried to remember it.*
-
-*The next time you need to login to that service you can hit the “forgot
-password link” to get a login link and repeat the process. This is a
-little slower , perhaps, than a stored password but the benefit is that
-you will never leak your password for that tool – because you don't know
-it! Of course you wouldn't do this with an account you use all the time
-but it is useful to ease the password management load. Recognize that
-this reduces the security of the account using a “single use” password
-to the security of your email account (since you use that to get back
-into the service) so your email password needs to be strong and
-memorable.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Have all staff use password manager software**
-
-*There are many passwords associated with modern work flows. Because
-they could be used to disrupt your work in various ways passwords need
-to be protected. They shouldn't be stored in spreadsheets, text files or
-word processor documents (even password protected ones as they are
-simple to break open).*
-
-\
-
-*Instead password manager software is available which stores all of your
-passwords in a secure file and can easily take care of all of the
-checklist items above. You just remember a single password to open that
-file up and then can have an array of unique, complex passwords for all
-yoru services.*
-
-\
-
-*KeePass and KeePassX use the same encrypted file format, can run on
-most any computer and so are recommended password managers. Security In
-a Box also has a KeePass overview here:
-https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/keepass/windows*
-
-\
-
-*Web browsers are insecure environments for password storage and
-handling, but their central role in many organizations has made
-web-based tools for password management very popular. Evaluating online
-services and their current security claims is outside of the scope of
-this document. We acknowledge that online password management tools
-often have adequate security levels for many organizations' everyday
-password handling needs; however,they are not recommended for storing
-core organizational passwords or other highly sensitive information.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Separate organizational and everyday passwords**
-
-\
-
-*Organizational passwords include any passwords that grant
-administrative control of your organization's information systems or
-online identity . These are very powerful credentials and so should be
-stored separately from passwords that just get staff into their personal
-user accounts. You can do this by making a separate login or file in
-your password manager application, or by choosing a completely different
-manager altogether.*
-
-\
-
-*Placing organizational passwords in a KeePass file that only a few key
-staff members can access will lessen the risks of adopting an online
-password manager for everyday passwords, but will also place a burden on
-those staff members. Balancing these needs should be factored in your
-decision.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-*t*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Set minimum password lengths and enforce complexity rules on services
-where you can do so, and regularly monitor user password strength.**
-
-*On many platforms including Windows Active Directory and Google Apps
-you can set controls at an administrative level to ensure people use
-strong passwords. It takes some advance planning and staff training, as
-setting up these controls without being clear on the implications can
-lock people out of their computers or work files . In addition, someone
-will need to be designated as the point person for resolving problems
-that arise from these controls. This step does however improve the
-security of all users at one time so is highly recommended.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-\
-
-Public Wireless Network Safety Checklist
-
-\
-\
-
-This checklist provides a number or practices that can help protect you
-and your staff when using publicly available wireless networks such as
-those in hotels, cafés and airports. Because there are so many ways that
-wireless networks can be compromised, this checklist is not exhaustive.
-
-**If performing work using sensitive or confidential information
-including that required to be protected by law (such as personal health
-information) you are best off avoiding the use of public networks for
-those tasks.**
-
- Record actions ****Difficulty rating ****Technical skill level
-****Work flow disruption
-
-Public Wireless Network Safety Tasks
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Keep all web browser software, including extensions, updated to the
-latest version. Prefer Firefox or Chrome browsers. Only use Internet
-Explorer and Safari when required.**
-
-*Internet Explorer has had a much higher incidence of vulnerabilities
-than Chrome and Firefox while Safari has suffered some recent security
-concerns. Although nearly all of the latest browsers support
-“certificate pinning”**which makes it harder to intercept secure
-connections,**Chrome and Firefox have led the development of this
-important feature. These browsers can be downloaded
-from*[*https://getfirefox.com*](https://getfirefox.com/)*and
-https://google.com/chrome.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Install the HTTPS Everywhere extension for all of the web browsers you
-use on your system.**
-
-*This step will help ensure that more sites you visit and information
-you submit to them cannot be seen by others on the wireless network or
-the operator of the network itself.********You can install the extension
-from the following page: https://www.eff.org/HTTPS-EVERYWHERE*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Install Privacy Badger, a browser add-on which will limit the
-“cookies” - small persistent chunks of information - set on your
-computer by websites**
-
-*Privacy Badger is software produced by the non-profit Electronic
-Frontier Foundation (https://eff.org) to help reduce the privacy
-breaches and tracking that come with the use of cookies. These cookies
-can be transferred insecurely so can, if poorly implemented, expose
-login credentials or other information in transit. As an extra benefit,
-you will increase you privacy and lessen your online tracking as a
-result of using this software. Download it at
-https://privacybadger.org.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Prefer wireless networks that use a password, ideally a unique one for
-each person connecting, and preferably using WPA or WPA2 encryption
-rather than WEP encryption.**
-
-*A password on a wireless network means the information moving across it
-is less easily captured and decoded by someone nearby. If everyone has a
-unique password this gets even harder. WPA and WPA2 offer stronger
-protection than WEP, which is now relatively easily compromised. You can
-easily view what encryption is in use on most computers. In OSX, hold
-down the Option key and click the wireless indicator in the top right
-corner to reveal extra information about each wireless network. The
-method for viewing these details is different in each version of Windows
-so ask your tech support provider for assistance for the software you
-use..*
-
-\
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Confirm the network details before you connect.**
-
-*An attacker can setup an access point with a name similar or identical
-to a legitimate one, so that you connect to it instead of the network
-you intend. Make sure to ask the proprietor of a public network what the
-network name and password are, and connect to the network with that name
-that accepts that password. This doesn't completely guarantee that the
-network you are connecting to isn't hostile or compromised, but it makes
-the difficulty of hijacking your connection much higher.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Turn off the built-in file sharing functionality on your computer or
-device**
-
-*Although handy for sharing files with peers, the built-in file sharing
-functionality on your computer is vulnerable to abuse or accidental
-information leakage. It is preferable to set up alternate tools and
-practices for sharing files, such as a central file repository.*
-
-*To turn off file sharing on a Mac, go to Apple menu \> System
-Preferences, then click Sharing and make sure all the boxes are
-unchecked.*
-
-*See this article for turning off file sharing on a Windows computer:
-https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/307874*
-
-*Recognize that if you are currently using the built-in file sharing
-functionality to share files inside an office, doing this will disrupt
-current work practices.*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Turn on your computer's firewall and disallow all external
-connections**
-
-*A firewall prevents unauthorized connections from other computers on
-the wireless network. There is a built in firewall in every computer,
-but it is not turned on by default and may allow connections to certain
-services. The firewall settings can be found on Macs in System
-Preferences\>Security. On Windows computers, the firewall settings are
-in the System and Security tool in Control Panel. More information about
-Windows Firewall can be found here:
-http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/firewalls-using.aspx*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Ensure that the wireless network is not presenting false
-certificates**
-
-*Increasingly, networks are set up to monitor traffic for various
-reasons such as ad placement or content filtering. However, this
-potentially compromises all secure connections, as it allows traffic to
-be monitored via the same mechanism in what is called a
-Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attack.. The network device will replace the
-security certificate from the service you are connecting to with one of
-its own. Anyone with access to that device can see any communication
-between you and that service. Learning to view certificates in your web
-browser, or installing and learning to use a tool such as Certificate
-Patrol (available only for Firefox; read more at
-http://patrol.psyced.org/) will help you identify*
-
-*Viewing certificate information in
-Chrome:*[*https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95617?hl=en*](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95617?hl=en)
-
-\
-
-*Viewing certificate information in Firefox:*
-
-[*https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-tell-if-my-connection-is-secure*](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-tell-if-my-connection-is-secure)
-
-*https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/secure-website-certificate*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-**Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to securely tunnel out of public
-networks**
-
-*A VPN creates a secure connection for your computers to use to access
-the office network and the Internet. This connection, or tunnel, can be
-used to hide all information moving from your computers to the Internet
-or office network from the operator or other users of the wireless
-network. Use of a VPN severely limits the amount of trust you have to
-place in the owner and operator of the network you are on and so limits
-your exposure to them. These factors make VPNs a very effective way to
-protect your self on untrusted networks.*
-
-\
-
-*A VPN is implemented via a device you own located in your office or at
-an offsite facility, or that a third party provides you use of for a
-fee. Choosing a VPN provider and setting up computers to use it are not
-simple tasks, and critically important**–**a misstep in setup or use can
-expose your information or bring your work to a crawl. In addition VPNs
-add a layer of network traffic and will slow down your Internet access
-so your distance to and bandwidth available from your VPN provider (or
-office if hosting your own) will make a difference to performance.*
-
-\
-
-*Consider if the speed tradeoff is acceptable to you before choosing to
-implement a VPN. If you do, the investment in implementation, setup and
-hassle is repaid by a solution that*
-
-\
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-\
-\
-
-Glossary
-
-\
-\
-
-**Backup**. Regularly updated copies of your digital assets, ideally
-stored in several different places, so that if access to or integrity of
-your data is disrupted for any reason (damage to computers due to
-accident or natural disaster, accidental or malicious deletion of files,
-etc.), the assets can be restored. Online backup services such as Mozy
-and CrashPlan are best supplemented by backups stored on organizational
-equipment and in secure offsite storage.
-
-**Cookies**. Small files placed on your computer by websites that you
-visit; they are used to manage website features such as logins and can
-also be used to track behavior on the web. While not all cookies are a
-security risk, if poorly implemented they can expose the information
-they contain. More information about cookies is available at
-http://www.allaboutcookies.org/.
-
-**Digital assets**. Any and all data electronically stored or used by
-your organization. This includes your organization's files, website,
-emails, social media accounts, online banking accounts, etc. Some of
-these items may be ones that you administer yourself (e.g., the contents
-of staff hard drives, file repositories stored on servers owned and
-controlled by your organization); others may be maintained by
-third-party services on your behalf (e.g., files on Google Drive or
-Box). Others are services that you participate in that are owned and
-controlled by others (subject to terms of service), such as
-organizational Facebook pages.
-
-**DKIM records**. DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is a system to
-protect email from abuse, both from forged sender addresses and from
-content alteration. The system operates at the server level so requires
-help from your email provider to setup.
-
-**Domain Name System.**The domain name system (DNS) is like a phone book
-for the Internet. It translates domain names (such as
-roadmapconsulting.org or whitehouse.gov) into the numbers (ip addresses)
-used to find services on the Internet. It can also be used to store
-other information about your organizatio's informatio systems, such as
-SPF records or DKIM keys.
-
-**Encryption**. A mechanism by which your data scrambled in order to
-protect it from being read by unauthorized parties. Authorized parties
-have are able to decrypt (i.e., unscramble) it. There are many different
-ways to encrypt communications and other digital assets.
-
-**Encryption Key.**An encryption key is a piece of information that you
-share with an authorized party so they can encrypt and/or decrypt
-information to or from you. In most cases this information is highly
-sensitive and needs to be protected however modern encryption schemes
-allow you to have a “public” key that you can safely share with anyone.
-
-**Extensions**. Small pieces of software that you install as part of
-your web browser in order to give your browser additional capabilities.
-
-**Firewall.**A piece of software or hardware device that analyzes and
-selectively blocks or alters information passing between two networks.
-Common places to find firewalls are between your office network and the
-Internet and on your computer to protect you from other computers on
-your office network.
-
-**Office network**. The equipment in your office that allows staff
-computers to connect to each other, on site resources such as file
-servers and to the Internet. If you cannot trust that nobody else is
-controlling this network your security progress will be compromised.
-
-**Password manager software**. Software that keeps your passwords in an
-encrypted format, protected by a master password. This allows you to
-store multiple passwords by remembering only one. Password managers are
-available as software that you install (e.g., KeePass) and as a
-web-based service (e.g., LastPass). While web-based password managers
-can be secure enough to hold the passwords staff use to access their
-accounts for everyday purposes, they are not recommended to store the
-passwords that grant administrative access to core organizational
-accounts.
-
-**Security certificates**. Security certificates are a specific kind of
-file that includes an encryption key, and often times additional
-information about that key. Websites such as used for banking and other
-services frequently use them to allow you to establish a secure
-connection with their servers.
-
-**SPF records**. Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a system that allows
-you to tell others what servers and services are allowed to send email
-for your organization's domain name. Setting up this record requires the
-assistance of your DNS provider and can have unintended negative
-consequences for your email delivery if not properly done.
-
-**Virtual Private Network (VPN)**. A connection between computers that
-them to exchange information in an encrypted form. This can allow you to
-both “tunnel out of” a network you don't trust or to get you access to
-information on your office network from someplace else on the Internet.
-
-**Wireless Access Point.**A wireless access point (WAP) is a piece of
-hardware configured to host a wireless network. In many small networks
-the WAP will also be a firewall separating the network from the rest of
-the Internet.
-
-**WEP, WPA and WPA2**. All are methods of encrypting wireless network
-traffic between a device like a computer or phone and a wireless access
-point. WEP is an older encryption method and it is far less secure than
-WPA and WPA2, which are newer methods.
-
-\
-\
-
-\
-\
-
-i
-
-\
-
-nformation ecology, llc \* oakland, california
-
-https://iecology.org \* 510-479-9779 \* info@iecology.org
-
-\
-\
-
-**Please Note**: Although these practices are highly recommended they do
-not in and of themselves constitute a successful security practice.
-Information security is an ongoing process of managing risk and no list
-of procedures is an adequate replacement for a thorough review of what
-information you are protecting, why and from whom paired with an
-organizational commitment to shifting operations to mitigate risk.
-Information Ecology, RoadMap Consulting and Common Counsel are not
-liable for negative outcomes associated with following these practices.
-
-Last update 4/20/2015
diff --git a/glossary.md b/glossary.md
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-Glossary
---------
-
-**Backup**
-Regularly updated copies of your digital assets, ideally
-stored in several different places, so that if access to or integrity of
-your data is disrupted for any reason (damage to computers due to
-accident or natural disaster, accidental or malicious deletion of files,
-etc.), the assets can be restored. Online backup services such as Mozy
-and CrashPlan are best supplemented by backups stored on organizational
-equipment and in secure offsite storage.
-
-**Cookies**
-Small files placed on your computer by websites that you
-visit; they are used to manage website features such as logins and can
-also be used to track behavior on the web. While not all cookies are a
-security risk, if poorly implemented they can expose the information
-they contain. More information about cookies is available at
-http://www.allaboutcookies.org/.
-
-**Digital assets**
-Any and all data electronically stored or used by
-your organization. This includes your organization's files, website,
-emails, social media accounts, online banking accounts, etc. Some of
-these items may be ones that you administer yourself (e.g., the contents
-of staff hard drives, file repositories stored on servers owned and
-controlled by your organization); others may be maintained by
-third-party services on your behalf (e.g., files on Google Drive or
-Box). Others are services that you participate in that are owned and
-controlled by others (subject to terms of service), such as
-organizational Facebook pages.
-
-**DKIM records**
-DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is a system to
-protect email from abuse, both from forged sender addresses and from
-content alteration. The system operates at the server level so requires
-help from your email provider to setup.
-
-**Domain Name System.**The domain name system (DNS) is like a phone book
-for the Internet. It translates domain names (such as
-roadmapconsulting.org or whitehouse.gov) into the numbers (ip addresses)
-used to find services on the Internet. It can also be used to store
-other information about your organizatio's informatio systems, such as
-SPF records or DKIM keys.
-
-**Encryption**
-A mechanism by which your data scrambled in order to
-protect it from being read by unauthorized parties. Authorized parties
-have are able to decrypt (i.e., unscramble) it. There are many different
-ways to encrypt communications and other digital assets.
-
-**Encryption Key.**An encryption key is a piece of information that you
-share with an authorized party so they can encrypt and/or decrypt
-information to or from you. In most cases this information is highly
-sensitive and needs to be protected however modern encryption schemes
-allow you to have a “public” key that you can safely share with anyone.
-
-**Extensions**
-Small pieces of software that you install as part of
-your web browser in order to give your browser additional capabilities.
-
-**Firewall.**A piece of software or hardware device that analyzes and
-selectively blocks or alters information passing between two networks.
-Common places to find firewalls are between your office network and the
-Internet and on your computer to protect you from other computers on
-your office network.
-
-**Office network**
-The equipment in your office that allows staff
-computers to connect to each other, on site resources such as file
-servers and to the Internet. If you cannot trust that nobody else is
-controlling this network your security progress will be compromised.
-
-**Password manager software**
-Software that keeps your passwords in an
-encrypted format, protected by a master password. This allows you to
-store multiple passwords by remembering only one. Password managers are
-available as software that you install (e.g., KeePass) and as a
-web-based service (e.g., LastPass). While web-based password managers
-can be secure enough to hold the passwords staff use to access their
-accounts for everyday purposes, they are not recommended to store the
-passwords that grant administrative access to core organizational
-accounts.
-
-**Security certificates**
-Security certificates are a specific kind of
-file that includes an encryption key, and often times additional
-information about that key. Websites such as used for banking and other
-services frequently use them to allow you to establish a secure
-connection with their servers.
-
-**SPF records**
-Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a system that allows
-you to tell others what servers and services are allowed to send email
-for your organization's domain name. Setting up this record requires the
-assistance of your DNS provider and can have unintended negative
-consequences for your email delivery if not properly done.
-
-**Virtual Private Network (VPN)**
-A connection between computers that
-them to exchange information in an encrypted form. This can allow you to
-both “tunnel out of” a network you don't trust or to get you access to
-information on your office network from someplace else on the Internet.
-
-**Wireless Access Point.**A wireless access point (WAP) is a piece of
-hardware configured to host a wireless network. In many small networks
-the WAP will also be a firewall separating the network from the rest of
-the Internet.
-
-**WEP, WPA and WPA2**
-All are methods of encrypting wireless network
-traffic between a device like a computer or phone and a wireless access
-point. WEP is an older encryption method and it is far less secure than
-WPA and WPA2, which are newer methods.
-