Hackers On Planet Earth

From Source to Story: Cryptography and Psychosocial Care Protects Public Interest Journalism

Jen Helsby, Harlo Holmes

The threat landscape for journalists and whistleblowers has dramatically intensified over the last 15 years, leading to the development of robust technical evolutions in platforms from SecureDrop, Dangerzone, WhatsApp (meh), and Signal. Safely handling malicious submissions and spicy comms, newsrooms have become used to employing rigorous security models, sandboxing techniques, and myriad other tactics that have become the “meat-and-potatoes” of high-stakes public interest journalism. The baseline for secure communications is always shifting due to emerging legal, quantum, and novel AI challenges. This talk will address this and help enable you to fully understand how securing data is only half the equation; it is equally critical to protect the human risking their livelihood or liberty for the public’s right to know. This means moving beyond threat models to deeply understand the psychological toll of whistleblowing and the empathetic dimensions of the journalist-source relationship. You will get a glimpse into the modern toolbox that merges strict digital security protocols with empathetic strategies to manage the anxiety inherent in the biggest disclosures. From first contact to post-publication – you’ll learn about the life cycle reporters expect to safely and ethically get the story done.

Friday 1300 Grand Ballroom

Jen Helsby is the chief technology officer at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), where she oversees the organization’s engineering teams. She is an engineer, researcher, and cypherpunk. Prior to this role, she was a founding engineer at Penumbra Labs, focusing on applied cryptography for privacy-preserving payments. She previously led development for the SecureDrop whistleblower platform. She also cofounded Lucy Parsons Labs, a Chicago-based civil liberties group. She holds a doctorate in astrophysics from the University of Chicago.

Harlo Holmes is the chief security programs officer at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF). She leads a team that boosts newsmakers’ confidence and effectiveness in securing their communications within their newsrooms, with their sources, and with the public at large. She is a media scholar, software programmer, and activist. Harlo was a regular contributor to the open-source mobile security collective Guardian Project, where she spearheaded the media metadata verification initiative currently empowering ProofMode, Save by OpenArchive, eyeWitness to Atrocities, and others.