Free digital security checkups for people/organizations concerned about the incoming US government

Like many, I’m dismayed and truly scared for what’s going to happen to the United States as we usher a dictator into office.

Whatever form any sort of resistance takes, it’s going to need to rest on a foundation of security and private communication. I’ve spent nearly twenty years working in the security industry, including actual experience protecting against nation-state-level adversaries. I’d like to use those skills and that experience to help those most at risk from the incoming regime (and the vigilante hangers-on that surround it).

So, if you — as an individual or a group — want to re-assess your digital security posture, I’d like to try to help. I’m offering free digital security check-ups to anyone who feels like they need it now. We’ll talk through your current digital security practices and review the risks that worry you, and I’ll give you some suggestions about practices and tools that might help. If needed (and my availability permitting), we can schedule follow-up time for some hands-on walkthroughs and tutorials.

How this’ll work:

• We’ll book 90 minutes to meet and talk. I expect to take more like an hour, but I don’t want to be rushed, so the longer time slot lets us go over a bit if we need to.
• I’ll default to using Google Meet¹ for this, but if you’d prefer to use something else instead let me know.
• I’ll spend most of the time asking you questions about your risks, what you do currently, what changes you think you need to make, and what your goals are.
• Toward the end, I’ll walk you through the practices/tools I think you should follow/use to achieve your goals.
• Some of these things might be complex or hard to use/follow — unfortunately, many security tools have really poor usability. If there are pieces that you think you might struggle to figure out, or places you’ve gotten stuck before, we can look at scheduling some follow-up time for me to walk you through things in a more hands-on way.

Sound like something you could use? Book time with me here. Or, if you want to set this up in the most security-conscious way possible, reach out to me over Signal - I’m jacobian.01.

Anticipated questions

What does this cost?

Nothing. If you want to thank me for my time, I can suggest some organizations you can volunteer with or donate to instead.

What sorts of topics can we cover?

I’m leaving this deliberately open-ended. My expertise is digital security — so security communication and data storage, secure collaboration, protecting your privacy, etc. — but the line between digital and physical security is a blurry one and I’m happy to cover topics relating to physical security as well. I’ll just let you know where I’m confident in my knowledge and where I’m more out on a limb.

Some examples of the kinds of questions I can help you answer:

• “I’m worried about {Scenario X} - is this a realistic concern? If it is, how should I prepare?”
• “We’re an advocacy organization with an email list of supporters. Is it safe to email them or do we need to do something different?”
• “Is it safe to use iMessage to communicate with my family or should I use something else? If so, what? And how do I convince them to use it?”
• “How can I store critical documents and records in a way that’s easy for me to retrieve and hard for someone to steal?”
• “I’m afraid of being targeted by an online harassment campaign. How can I prepare to minimize my exposure if that happens?”
• “How can I best remove or obfuscate my personal information (e.g. address, phone number, etc.) from people looking for it online?”

Those are just a few ideas of the situations I can talk through with you – not in any way exhaustive.

I’m not sure if I or my organization qualifies for this

Let me worry about that. Reach out anyway.

What sort of preparation do I need to do?

None really, but if you can come with a clear set of questions, or a clear set of goals, that’ll help me focus on the most important parts of the conversation.

Can I record or take notes?

Probably that’s fine, but we should talk about it first. Ask me before we start and we’ll discuss.

I have other questions

Signal’s probably the best way to discuss if you have questions about this before you book — again, I’m jacobian.01. Here are also some other ways to contact me, but you probably want to use Signal for this.