Get the Guide: 12 Tips to Stay Safer Online

The Safer Online guide is here! Created especially for nonprofits, the Safer Online for Nonprofits Guide is packed with practical tips that you can start using RIGHT NOW to keep yourself and your organization safe.

Written by our very own Kevin Lo, the guide addresses four areas where your organization's security could be compromised: in the office, on the go, on social media, and in the cloud. The guide will also be translated into 10+ languages in the coming weeks.

Why Safer Online Matters for Nonprofits

With an alphabet soup of acronyms (DDoS!?! XSS?? Ugh!), security can seem overwhelmingly specialized and technical. We understand that many nonprofits don't have the resources to hire full-time tech support staff to understand and manage all those complexities.

The good news is, you don't actually need special expertise (or in-house IT staff) to start making changes to protect your privacy and your organization's data. Regardless of how "techie" you are, there are basic things you can do, right now (today!) to keep yourself and your organization safe.

For example, tip two in the Safer Online Guide addresses the perils of social engineering (that's security-speak for "how a sneaky criminal tricks you into revealing personal information"):

• You will never be asked to provide credentials or personal data in an email or over the phone. So do not provide this information, even if the sender looks legitimate.

No special tech skills required! You just need to be alert about what kind of information you're sharing and who you're sharing it with.

Even though we're huge nerds here at TechSoup, we also realize that being security-minded is one of those virtuous things people know they should do — like drinking enough water or eating lots of vegetables — but it's easy to postpone or overlook.

We get it. That's why the guide focuses on the most important changes to make and the most straightforward, manageable security practices. We believe these small changes can have a huge impact.

As we've said before, everyone needs basic security awareness and skills, but these skills are even more important for nonprofits, charities, and NGOs because we rely on the goodwill of donors and funders to do our good work. Our constituents also trust that their information is safe in our hands. That goodwill and trust requires us to be careful with our data and our constituents' data.

Get Started Now

• Download the guide and share it with your staff and volunteers.
• Attend our free one-hour webinar on October 16: Paranoid or Are They Really Out to Get You?
• Ask questions during TechSoup's office hours. Security expert and TechSoup forums host Gary Lamontagne will be on hand October 29 to answer all your security questions!
• Attend a local in-person educational event for nonprofits. Our NetSquared program offers live get-togethers around the world, including several security- and privacy-focused events this month.
• Explore more from Safer Online for Nonprofits, including information on security threats, how data breaches really happen, how to protect your privacy, and much more (all written in plain language for non-techies).
• Check out Microsoft's Safer Online resources.
• October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (TechSoup is a proud NCSAM Champion!). Take a look at the many great resources and events.

Continue the Conversation

We're encouraging nonprofits to share their tips and best practices. Join the conversation by sharing one thing you can start doing today to protect your organization, using the #Do1Thing hashtag on Twitter:

You can also log in to share your tips in the comments.

Many Thanks to Microsoft!

The guide is part of TechSoup's Safer Online for Nonprofits campaign. The campaign, including creation and translation of the guide, was generously funded by Microsoft. We also used Microsoft's many excellent security resources as the basis for the guide.

Image 1: Vjom / Shutterstock

Image 2: TechSoup Global

Image 3: Maxx-Studio / Shutterstock

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