By Sonia Mittal
Have you heard of Feminist Frequency? If not, you may be glad that you just did. It’s a website that talks about women, harassment and misogyny in popular culture, especially gaming. And last week, they put together a guide to online safety for women, titled “Speak Up & Stay Safe(r): A Guide to Protecting Yourself From Online Harassment”.
Having been cyberstalked myself, I approached this guide with mixed feelings (you’ll know why in a bit). I found it amazingly comprehensive. And rather scary. I wish I’d had it back in 2012 when I was at my wit’s end about protecting my online privacy. But reading it this week, I had to skip some parts because they were making me relive the worst “what if” moments of that year, with all the various hacking scenarios being addressed.
To start with, my Google account was hacked, among others, and I received nasty mails about what my hacker had found in my private correspondence. It took me a long time to figure out two-step verification to protect my account – and that’s the first thing this Feminist Frequency primer mentions.
I think my best defense mechanism against it all was burying my head in the sand and not thinking too much about what my stalker could be spying on right now, or how far his reach truly extended into my digital life. But if I’d had more information, more help – if I’d had this online guide – I’d have felt armed. I’d have been able to face up to things better.
So my agenda is pretty simple: if you’re brave enough to discover your vulnerabilities and not become paranoid, or if your hacker/stalker/cybermob has given you so much trouble that the scenarios mentioned in this guide will be nothing compared to the potential for paranoia, then do yourself a favour and please, please, please read this guide all the way through, and don’t stop until the end of the page. And if you’d rather bury your head in the sand, like I did, then please read their short version at the beginning of the guide: “Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t have time to read the whole thing? Start with these three steps.” Because this is simultaneously one of the most terrifying and reassuring documents I’ve ever had the fortune to encounter.
December 14, 2015 at 11:04 am
theladiesfinger my entire email inbox till 2012 lies in an ex’s inbox because hacked. and he backup only everything.
December 14, 2015 at 11:05 am
TheRestlessQuil Jeez.
December 14, 2015 at 11:15 am
theladiesfinger seriously though, i immediately started two-step verification.
December 14, 2015 at 11:16 am
tarapsarathy When you have checked out the whole primer, let us know. We can add your comments to this post.
December 14, 2015 at 12:11 pm
theladiesfinger well, I checked out the primer. Then I went and downloaded lastpass. Changed bad passwords. Set up two step verification
December 14, 2015 at 12:11 pm
theladiesfinger proceeded to then delete all instances of unsafe info sharing. Spent 10 mins beating myself up about my stupidity.
December 14, 2015 at 12:13 pm
tarapsarathy 🙂
December 14, 2015 at 12:13 pm
theladiesfinger I know there’s still some info out there for me to reclaim, but made a first attempt at security. Learning so much
December 14, 2015 at 12:13 pm
tarapsarathy Dont remember reading a self-blame section in the primer 🙂
December 14, 2015 at 12:14 pm
theladiesfinger I’m thankful I haven’t had any stalking / doxxing attempts so far, but everytime I read about an incident, I know I worry
December 14, 2015 at 12:14 pm
theladiesfinger so already I’m taking back the fear and doing something to protect myself. I’m outspoken in ways people aren’t always happy
December 14, 2015 at 12:16 pm
theladiesfinger about so I have to think it’s only a matter of time. I can be safe and be true to myself at same time.
December 14, 2015 at 12:17 pm
theladiesfinger hey, that’s all me, no one else gets credit for it!!
December 14, 2015 at 12:18 pm
tarapsarathy hahaha
December 14, 2015 at 12:24 pm
theladiesfinger I faced harassment on my blog in 2006 and didn’t know how to deal with it.
http://boogerworm.co.in/the-lolest-kind-of-trolling/
More careful now