#Podcast: Online security advice for journalists

Image by Moyan_Bren on Flickr. Some rights reserved

This podcast looks at how to secure your computer to protect both yourself and your sources.

Security experts and an investigative journalist outline the dangers and offer solutions.

They explain how journalists can communicate securely by email, safely store information on a computer, and they share advice on preventing a Twitter account hack.

Sarah Marshall, technology editor at Journalism.co.uk, speaks to:

• Lyra McKee, investigative journalist and founder of The Muckraker, an investigative news blog for Northern Ireland
• Brian Honan, an independent security consultant at BH Consulting
• Daniel Cuthbert, chief operating officer at information security firm Sensepost

You can hear future podcasts by signing up to the Journalism.co.uk iTunes podcast feed.

You might like to read this guide on ‘how not to get your Twitter account hacked‘. It has advice from Daniel Cuthbert.

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#Tip of the day for journalists: Read this advice on internet security

Image by zimpenfish on Flickr. Some rights reserved

Lyra McKee, who founded The Muckraker, a blog about investigative journalism, has written a post published on the Online Journalism Blog all about online security.

In it she tells journalists to never assume a computer is secure.

McKee, who is based in Northern Ireland, uses the example of an investigative journalist, “a confidente of IRA terrorists”, who found his phone had been hacked by people who said they could also break in to his computer.

Following the hacking attacks suffered by the Washington Post and New York Times, she goes on to look at how Hushmail, said to be a more secure version of Gmail, and also Google have reportedly complied with government requests for information.

The biggest issue for a journalist’s digital security is not a hacker’s ability to guess their password but the government’s ability to obtain their data through legal wrangling.

McKee then looks at different security solutions – including TrueCrypt, Retroshare and Tor – and gives four tips for journalists, including to use “burner emails”.

Read her excellent post to find out more.

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