Threat Modeling For Activists: Tips For Secure Organizing & Activism

Police block a roadway during Occupy SF protests, December 7, 2011. Threat modeling helps activists anticipate and respond to police repression. (Flickr / Thomas Hawk, CC-BY-NC license)

Originally posted by Kit O’Connell

Threat modeling is a fancy term for “knowing how to protect yourself in different situations.”

This is a draft document which will become part of an upcoming zine on security for activists. Your feedback and constructive criticism is welcome.

The idea of “threat modeling” originated in the military before being adopted by security experts. While the field includes many advanced concepts that don’t interest us here, threat modeling can help us get a handle on our personal security choices. In an age of mass surveillance, choosing what steps to take can feel overwhelming. For a lot of people, it may feel easier to do nothing at all than worry about protecting yourself online.

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