The Tibetan community has been under siege from malware and other targeted online attacks for years; the Tibetan exile capital of Dharamsala, India is perhaps the global epicenter of malware attacks.
This project aims to enable three Tibetan civil society organizations to properly and thoroughly address targeted malware attacks by: analyzing the needs and vulnerabilities of each organization, putting systems in place that will help prevent attacks, assessing whether they are already compromised, and effectively responding to and mitigating attacks if they occur.
These organizations are on the frontlines of targeted attacks, but they have limited financial resources and therefore can rarely prioritize hiring technical staff. To do so, this project is focused on training and providing support for three Tibetan computer science graduates to be placed in three Tibetan civil society NGOs (advocacy and journalism-focused) in Dharamsala, India. With advice and mentorship, these three system administrator Fellows can address the security problems that leave these organizations vulnerable and provide emergency assistance when needed, influencing the way Rapid Response is handled at the organizational level.