THREATS/ATTACKS DUE TO ONLINE/
MOBILE WORK
Respondents said email account hacking was the
most serious digital risk they face. Nearly all respondents heavily rely on the Internet and actively
use digital tools to communicate and gather information.
Only 15% of respondents said they have been previously threatened or personally attacked because of
their online/mobile work. The common abuses/violations cited were insulting emails and comments on
social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. A
few cited examples where certain individuals, hiding behind fake names, perpetrated the violations.
Others reported cases where they were personally
threatened by government officials.
At least 50% of the respondents who have never
been physically abused did report know someone
who has, but only a few respondents elaborated on
this. In some instances, the victim is a friend, colleague or a family member. A few of these instances
involved physical abuse and forced commandeering
of personal equipment.

Familiarity with security tools, data encryption, and
anonymous internet usage

However, there is a need to view the results above
with caution as most of the respondents operate
in environments that are not very sophisticated. As
shown above, most of the respondents equate security in cyberspace to merely having anti-virus software.
Asked about their skills in implementing secure and,
if the need be, anonymous internet usage, 9% considered their skills ‘excellent’, 35% ‘very good’, 46%
‘fair’, and 12% ‘poor’. Again, these assertions should
be taken with caution.
When it comes to mixing personal information with
professional activity when using social net¬works like
Facebook or Twitter, 10% say they do so frequently,
13% very often, 19% fairly often, 20% sometimes,
26% almost never, and 13% never.

Are there resources devoted to helping you maintain
individual privacy and digital security?

Most of the respondents equated security in cyberspace to simply having an Antivirus in their devices.
In some instances, the software is either a free version or one that is out-of-date.
When it came to grasp of security tools, data encryption, and anonymous internet usage, most of
the respondents were aware of the terms used to
achieve this:

8

Over half of the respondents are aware of resources
devoted to helping them maintain individual privacy
and digital security. However, almost all respondents admitted or implied that these measures are
inadequate. Most of them cited computer firewalls,
encrypted networks, and anti-virus software as examples. Some cited dedicated IT support staff who,
among other measures of security, encourage them
to change their passwords repeatedly.

COMMUNICATIONS SURVEILLANCE/
VULNERABILITY TO ATTACKS
Most of the respondents understand communications surveillance as the monitoring of communications, whether digital, mobile, etc., to gain information on a person’s activities and/or interactions,
without their knowledge or consent. And in almost
all cases, the culprit is government.

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