freedom1 Forum conducted a daylong orientation to its staffs focusing digital archiving and safety on November 11, 2016. The orientation was organized as part of the implementation of the project- Support to enable environment for freedom1 of expression in Nepal (SEFEN)- No News Is Bad News funded by the Free Press Unlimited, FF’s office in Kathmandu.
The orientation was provided in two sessions- the first focused the digital safety (technical part), while the second on security in the digital age (individual/journalists’ security).
Computer Engineer Mahesh Pandey facilitated the first session informing the participants on various issues on how the digital appliances could be kept and used safely. Touching upon the functions of computer (as concept of booting, RAM, ROM, hard disk), internet, hardware, and software tools, he made the FF staff aware on saving hardware, software, and data, data backup, document archiving and management, soft copy archiving, store, network management system, wireless technology, sharing file and folder, and mostly used software in internet.
Similarly, the second session facilitated by Ujjwal Acharya, South Asia Coordinator of the International Federation of Journalists based in Nepal, prioritized individuals’/journalists’ security in the digital age.
Contents in his presentations were- importance of digital security, scenario how an individual/journalist falls victim to digital threats, concept of virus and anti-virus, malware/spyware, phishing, mnemonic passwords, strong password, physical threats, sensitive information, keeping online communication private, anonymity and bypassing controls on the Internet, protecting yourself and your data.
The orientation was attended by all staffs and some Board members and the Acting Chairperson. They were, Office Assistant, Sarita Chaudhary; Media Monitoring Assistant, Manju Ojha; Gender Content Monitor, Nanu Maiya Khadka; Finance and Administration Officer, Aruna Adhikari; Media Assistant, Kumar Chaulagain; Media Monitoring Officer and Project Coordinator, Narayan Ghimire; Planning and Policy Advisor, Krishna Sapkota; Chief Executive Officer, Taranath Dahal; Board Member, Ram Maya Lamichhane; Board Member, Kedar Dahal;Board Member, Sahajman Shrestha, General Secretary, Dharmendra Jha; and Acting Chairperson Hari Binod Adhikari.
During the orientations, the participants had raised questions relating to mobile tracking, function of internet, selecting strong passwords, risky things and situation for hardware and software, data saving and retrieving and computer hacking, among others.
The orientation remained successful, for it functioned as the basic training and refreshers to the FF staffs on the digital safety and individual security in the digital age.
In the beginning of the orientation, the FF staffs were made aware of the FPU’s project.