Personal Digital Security Training

Digital threats to high-profile individuals

High-profile roles come with digital risk. Executives, journalists, lawyers, and those in law enforcement or national security are often targeted by cybercriminals or state-backed hackers. Their work makes them attractive targets for surveillance or disruption. Knowing how to protect personal and professional data should be a standard part of their role.

Organizations often invest in corporate IT security, but personal digital security for key individuals gets less attention. The Personal Digital Security Training fills this gap. Based on real-world experience and national security practices, we train participants to secure their devices and data—even in hostile digital environments.

Why should you attend?

This training covers the main digital risks to your devices and data, and explains how attackers operate and choose their targets. You’ll learn how to set up and manage your own digital security, including using anonymous email, creating alias accounts, setting up VPNs, encrypting files and storage, using live operating systems, and choosing alternative messaging tools.

Intended Audience

Everyone will benefit from better risk awareness and more secure digital behavior, but this training is vital for people with a higher risk profile, such as:

• Executives
• Journalists and (private) investigators
• Lawyers, politicians, activists
• Law enforcement and national security government employees
• Employees of NGOs and disaster relief

Required skills & Expertise

This course is intended for people already using digital devices and the internet, both for personal and professional purposes, who want to learn what threats they are facing and how to counter them. No further knowledge is required, just the will to learn and to change some of your routine behavior if necessary.

A Windows or Linux-based laptop and a smartphone are required for the practical exercises during the training.

Program

The Personal Digital Security Training is shaped to fit your context. Together with our trainers, we define which topics matter most based on the specific threats you and your team may face. The training can run from one to three days, depending on the scope.

Participants learn to identify risks linked to their devices, communications, social media use, and online accounts. We also explore the capabilities of potential adversaries and how to organise personal digital security effectively. The use of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is covered to help participants understand how much information is already publicly available about them.

In the practical part of the training, participants develop concrete skills, such as:

• Working with a Live Operating System
• Using anonymous email accounts
• Setting up and using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
• Encrypting files and disks
• Using secure messaging tools (Signal, Zello, Modulo, Greenalp)
• Managing online personas
• Using password managers
• Leveraging Bluetooth peer-to-peer tools

Live Exercise

For teams looking to put their skills to the test, the training can include a live exercise based on real-world scenarios relevant to their field. Possible elements include:

• Communicating while avoiding interception by an active eavesdropper
• Setting up a secure communication hub in high-risk environments