Co-Creation Hub (CcHub), in its bid to improve regional (Africa) support for digital safety incidents for at-risk and marginalized communities, has set up a secure dedicated email address and helpline number for handling security incidents. Vulnerable and at-risk communities, including journalists, activists, social groups, among others, can now latch on through dedicated e-mail address, Signal and WhatsApp to seek aid.
The innovation centre, which is dedicated to accelerating the application of social capital and technology for economic prosperity, said it believes strongly that technology can drive needed change and solve some of Africa’s most pressing and recurring problems around democracy, governance, equity and human rights. “We also understand that technology can pose challenges and threats to individuals and communities, as it can be employed to stifle freedom, repress groups and attack civil societies, which is why we are very proactive about digital resilience and digital safety in the communities where we work.
As more Africans and African organisations participate in the digital economy, the threat and attack surface widens, leaving more room for bad actors and cybercriminals to get involved. Already, Africa loses $3.5 billion annually to cybercrime and this is projected to reach $5 billion by 2022,” a statement from the Hub’s site stated.
It continued, further explaining reasons behind setting up the digital resilience helpline: “Across the continent, civil societies and human rights defenders, journalists and media organisations continue to come under increased scrutiny and attacks from both independent malicious actors and nation-state actors, yet most (if not all) do not have the internal capacity to respond to these attacks.”
It noted that there is no provision for phone calls and text messaging, the Hub encourages affected public could electronically mail the security team through help@cchubnigeria.com.
