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OPSEC for Beginners: Protect Your Identity & Data
25 students
What you'll learn
- What your digital "weak points" are , and how to fix them.
- How to compartmentalize accounts, use password managers, and set up 2FA.
- How to communicate safely with Signal, Session, and more.
- How to encrypt your files, back them up, and remove metadata.
- How to secure your phones and laptops from intrusion.
- What to do if you're compromised, and how to recover fast.
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Course content
8 sections • 34 lectures • 3h 46m total length
Requirements
- No prior cybersecurity knowledge required, this course is beginner-friendly.
- You should feel comfortable using a computer, browser, smartphone, and installing apps.
- A willingness to reflect on your own digital habits and privacy risks.
Description
Journalists, activists and online creators are not average users. You attract attention, you handle sensitive information and your risk is higher than most. This course gives you a practical digital security playbook designed for people like you, not a generic "do not click bad links" lecture.
You will lock down accounts, harden devices, clean up your online footprint, secure your files with real encryption and reliable backups, and prepare for travel, border crossings and harassment scenarios.
We start with threat modeling and a quick self-assessment so you know what actually matters for your life. Throughout the course you’ll follow three concrete personas:
Anna - The creator dealing with stalkers, hacked accounts, and doxxing
Ben - The journalist handling sources, leaks, and hostile environments
Omar - The activist facing surveillance, targeted phishing, and device seizure
Using their stories, you’ll build your own threat model and security plan step by step.
From there, we move into concrete actions:
Set up a password manager and strong 2FA correctly so one breach does not wreck your entire life
Separate identities and inboxes with better account hygiene and email aliases
Harden your phones and laptops with practical settings, full disk encryption and sane app choices
Improve browsing and search privacy with safer defaults and privacy focused tools
Choose and use secure messaging such as Signal or Session based on real world threat tradeoffs
Share files safely with tools like OnionShare, local transfers or privacy friendly one time links instead of random cloud drops
Understand how metadata leaks from photos and documents and strip it with tools such as exiftool or safe document conversion
Build encrypted backups that you can actually restore using a workflow that goes beyond "dump to USB and hope"
Prepare for travel and border risks, including what devices to carry, what to leave, burner devices and accounts, and how to plan for device searches
Create a simple incident response plan so you know exactly what to do when something goes wrong
By the end of the course you will be able to:
Create a realistic personal threat model and prioritize what to fix first
Secure accounts with a password manager, strong 2FA and identity separation
Harden phones and computers against common attacks and basic forensic capture
Recognize and avoid phishing, social engineering and common scam patterns
Browse, search and communicate with safer defaults and less data exhaust
Use private messaging and file sharing tools that match your risk profile
Remove or reduce metadata leaks from images and documents before sharing
Encrypt important data, verify backups and restore them under stress
Handle travel and border scenarios with a clear, pre planned strategy
Follow a written incident response checklist and maintain a personal security runbook
Who this course is for:
Journalists and media workers who handle sources, leaks or sensitive investigations
Activists, NGO staff, community organizers and researchers who face surveillance or harassment
Online creators, influencers and freelancers who are tired of worrying about hacked accounts and doxxing
Security conscious professionals who want real, applied digital security instead of certification prep
You do not need a deep technical background. If you can follow instructions and are willing to change a few habits, you can finish this course with a concrete written plan and a security setup that finally matches the risks you face.
Who this course is for:
- Online creators, freelancers, and influencers who want to protect their content, identity, and accounts from impersonation or harassment.
- Journalists, researchers, and NGO staff who need to protect sensitive sources, files, or correspondence.
- Activists and organizers operating under surveillance, censorship, or political risk.
- Everyday internet users who are tired of being tracked, profiled, and phished.
- Professionals in tech, law, or policy who want to apply strong operational security without becoming a full-time hacker.