Courses |

Cybersecurity

Secure messaging and communications

Nonprofits handle sensitive information every day—donor details, client stories, strategic plans, and advocacy efforts. This information can be targeted by a range of actors, from marketers and hackers to government agencies. Protecting these conversations is critical to safeguarding your mission, staff, and communities.

This course demystifies the world of secure communications. You'll learn how to think critically about your specific risks through a process called "threat modeling". We'll break down essential concepts like end-to-end encryption, metadata, and how data is protected (or not) when it's in transit and at rest. You'll get a clear, jargon-free comparison of popular tools like SMS, WhatsApp, Signal, and encrypted email, so you can choose the right tool for the right conversation.

By the end of this course, you won't just understand the terminology; you'll have a practical framework for making smarter security decisions. You'll leave with actionable steps to improve your personal and organizational communication security, and a plan for how to stay in touch if your primary systems ever fail.

Learning objectives

Threat modeling fundamentals

Assess who might target your communications and what digital assets are most at risk.

Core encryption concepts

Differentiate between transport-layer security (like HTTPS) and end-to-end encryption to make informed decisions about technology.

Secure communications strategy

Develop a practical plan for choosing secure tools and communicating effectively during a service disruption or crisis.

Curriculum outline

• Understand your digital risks and adversaries
• Key concepts in data protection
• Evaluate secure communication tools
• Create a resilient communications plan

Anticipated time to complete

NTEN courses typically require about 60 minutes of video content to complete, while optional content varies by course.