How Can We Secure our Websites? IT Experts’ Solutions

The management and the security of media outlets’ websites was the main subject of a new informal talk organised by the Independent Journalism Center. The event, held on 25 June 2019 at Media Hub Moldova, brought together journalists and administrators of media outlets’ websites, who discussed the subject with IT experts Natalia Onyshchenko and Mykola Kostynyan, Internews, Kiev, Ukraine.

The session was conducted in the ‘question and answer’ format. During the event, participants described the issues faced by the websites of the media outlets they represent, and the guests gave them suggestions and solutions to overcome these issues.
 
Discussions were focused on websites’ audit – testing of their performance and security level, protection against potential attacks, creation of back-up sites, domain registration, and so on.
 
‘The majority of issues could be avoided through good communication between the IT expert and the team of media outlet journalists. Also, some simple steps that must become rules in the editorial offices are creating backup copies and setting secure passwords’, warned
Mykola Kostynyan.
 
Experts recommend using the Uptime Robot tool that permanently monitors websites and sends notifications to the administrator in case of system errors or slowdowns. Experts also suggested using TechSoup Moldova services, through which institutions receive access to IT products at a special price.
 
Participants and experts agreed that ‘an website is like a vehicle which needs permanent care’.
 
Sergiu Tudos, office engineer at Radio Free Europe, argues that discussions in this informal format are useful, providing the possibility of good interaction between experts and participants in order to identify solutions to possible issues addressed.
 
‘It was an interesting and interactive discussion platform. I learned new things that I will try out in my future projects. Experts were well-trained and highly experienced’, Sergiu Tudos said.
 
This event is part of the ‘Media Enabling Democracy, Inclusion and Accountability in Moldova (MEDIA-M)’ project, funded by USAID, UK aid and implemented by Internews in Moldova. Its purpose is to promote the development of the independent and professional mass-media and to build a media sector that is more resilient to political and economic pressure.