Privacy Infrastructure for a Remote Activist Team
A 6-person distributed human rights team operating in high-risk regions needed a complete privacy infrastructure — from hardened devices to encrypted communications.
The Challenge
The team consisted of 6 human rights researchers and activists spread across 4 countries, some operating in regions with active surveillance programs. They were using consumer laptops with stock operating systems, communicating via standard email and WhatsApp. Several team members had already experienced suspicious device behavior and one had been detained at a border crossing where their unencrypted laptop was searched.
Services Used
Our Approach
- 1
Provisioned 6 privacy-hardened laptops running QubesOS with compartmentalized VMs for different sensitivity levels.
- 2
Configured full-disk encryption with strong passphrases and emergency shutdown procedures for border-crossing scenarios.
- 3
Set up an encrypted communications stack: Matrix for team chat, Signal for urgent contact, and PGP-encrypted email for formal communications.
- 4
Deployed a shared encrypted file storage solution accessible only through the team's VPN.
- 5
Conducted remote OPSEC training for all team members covering operational compartmentalization, safe travel procedures, and emergency protocols.
- 6
Established a key verification and device check-in protocol to detect compromise.
Results
6
Laptops Deployed
3
Encrypted Comm Channels
6
Team Members Trained
4 weeks
Time to Complete
“The team finally has infrastructure that matches the sensitivity of our work. The QubesOS compartmentalization and the communication protocols have fundamentally changed how safely we can operate.”
— Organization Client