Un reportage EQDA
Today, the world is moving faster than ever. Everyday a new idea is brought to reality. Technology is part of our daily life and it seems we cannot run away from it.
Stephane Kohr is an information security expert. He trains journalist and human rights activists how to secure their information and avoid being tracked by governments or anyone who would be interested in the information they hold.
“I and a group of friends from the Chaos Computer Club (CCC), the biggest hackers’ movement in Europe currently, thought about this during the World Forum on Civil Society way before 2000. We realised that we had to do something to preserve the security of journalists and their work” Kohr explained the genesis of his work.
“Democratic and non-democratic countries are today using terrorism to fight free speech. Internet gives a lot of information and liberty to people and this doesn’t please most governments. In the end, governments use surveillance technology and this has led to the loss of human rights and sometimes lives” he adds.
Opposition parties in some countries are facing charges that have all been drafted under anti-terrorism legislation. However, some like China don’t even bother to put anti-terrorism legislation.
Kohr, who is also an associate professor at the university of Columbia reminds us that actually cooperate companies that make some of the gadgets and apps that we use are sometimes also helping governments in getting to the information that journalists have. He advises people who are at risk of suffering from giving out information that they think is crucial to always try and learn how to avoid such situation.
“Journalists have to learn. I wasn’t born with this knowledge and I am not a computer guy. I learn things because I know they are useful to me- things that will protect my information. Even big companies and governments get hacked, so you can imagine what can happen to mere people like you and me”
“Do not trust technology. Tech is developed by humans. Human beings make mistakes and this automatically makes the gadgets we use vulnerable” he warns.
Kohr recommends that governments should shift their attention to improving human intelligence if they are to beat terrorism.
Lastly, Stephane Kohr advises journalists to avoid putting too much info on social media, open unnecessary attachments as some of them might contain viruses that are used to read information from your computer or phone.
