Online Trust & Safety: Protecting Yourself in the Digital World

by Mr Mohamed Bile (CTO, SomaliREN)

Wednesday 10 Dec 2025, 08:00 → 10:00 Africa/Mogadishu

401 (Jazeera University Main Campus)

Tutorial Overview

The Online Trust & Safety (OTS) Tutorial is a special two-hour practical session delivered as part of the SomNOG8 Tutorials Day (10 December 2025). This tutorial is designed to equip participants with essential skills to protect themselves, their data, and their organizations in today’s connected digital environment.

The session follows a hands-on, participant-centered approach, where learners assess their own online risks, practice safe behaviors, and build a personal Online Safety Action Plan based on real-world threats such as account compromise, scams, misinformation, and unsafe browsing.

This tutorial is open to participants from all three SomNOG8 workshop tracks and will run in parallel with DevOps tutorial, allowing attendees to choose based on interest.

Tutorial Objectives

By the end of this tutorial, participants will be able to:

• Strengthen the security of their online accounts and devices
• Understand how to protect personal privacy on apps and websites
• Identify and avoid online scams, fraud, and suspicious links
• Recognize and respond to misinformation and disinformation
• Know what to do after clicking a suspicious link
• Apply safe and secure browsing habits
• Develop a personal Online Trust & Safety Action Plan

The training directly responds to participants’ learning interests such as:

• Account protection
• Scam detection
• Misinformation awareness
• Safe browsing
• Social media and email security

Target Audience

• ICT professionals
• Students and young technologists
• Network and systems administrators
• Software developers
• Policy and digital governance professionals
• Anyone who uses the Internet for work or daily life
• No prior cybersecurity background is required.

Tutorial Structure & Content Outline (2 Hours)

 

Session 1: Protecting Your Accounts & Devices

• Strong passwords vs weak passwords
• Password managers
• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
• Software and device updates
• Recovery options & account ownership
• Personal account security check-up

Session 2: Protecting Your Privacy

• Understanding your digital footprint
• What data apps collect
• Location sharing risks
• App permissions
• Who sees your data and why
• Reducing unnecessary data exposure

Session 3: Spotting & Avoiding Online Scams

• Common scam types in Somalia and globally
• Fake links, fake websites, phishing emails
• Social engineering tactics
• How to verify trusted websites
• Real-life scam examples

Session 4: Misinformation & Fake News

• How misinformation spreads
• Red flags in viral content
• Fact-checking tools
• Responsible sharing
• Protecting your network from false information

Session 5: What to Do After Clicking Something Suspicious

• Immediate response steps
• Disconnecting devices
• Changing passwords
• Checking compromised accounts
• Reporting incidents
• Avoiding panic and making smart recovery decisions

Session 6: Secure Internet Browsing

• HTTPS and secure connections
• Public Wi-Fi risks
• Browser safety habits
• Downloads and extensions
• Secure search behavior

Final Activity: Personal Protection Plan

• Participants complete a Personal Online Safety Worksheet where they:
• Identify risky behaviors
• Set personal safety goals
• Commit to concrete actions for better online protection

 

Learning Outcomes

After the tutorial, participants will:

• Be more confident in their online safety decisions
• Be able to protect their accounts and identity
• Know how to detect scams and false content
• Have a clear personal online protection plan
• Become safety ambassadors within their organizations and communities