What does psychosocial support look like in the face of spyware attacks and digital security threats? It can mean adapting care to the context, listening without rushing, and building protocols that protect both dignity and data. But we want to hear what it means to you and to those already integrating psychosocial support into their accompaniments — such as Fundación Acceso in Latin America and Digital Society of Africa during our next community call.
If your organization provides digital support or accompaniments, join our next community call to learn and share how to integrate psychosocial approaches into your activities. This conversation will build on the guide created by Fundación Acceso, with advisory from The Engine Room.
Join us on Tuesday, November 4, 2025 at 3:00 PM UTC for our community call: Psychosocial Support & Digital Safety. This session will be hosted by The Engine Room’s team leading our Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (CAT) project, with guests from Fundación Acceso and Digital Society of Africa.
What to expect in the community call
- Why psychosocial support is essential when responding to spyware attacks.
- Lessons learned on how organizations can care for both data and dignity.
- How to engage in active listening and develop care-centered protocols.
- Ways to prevent burnout in ongoing contexts of digital surveillance and violence.
Whether you are just starting to integrate psychosocial considerations into your digital security work, or you already provide direct support, this call will give you tools and some guidelines and possible alternatives to strengthen your approach.
Why this matters
A spyware attack and cyber attacks in general can trigger feelings of isolation, anger, or hopelessness. Beyond technical fixes, accompaniment requires careful observation of the process and a vision that integrates the knowledge and emotions of the parties involved to recover and build resilience. Incorporating psychosocial practices into digital protection means recognizing that protecting information also means protecting people’s well-being.
Learn more
To prepare for the call, check out:
- The psychosocial support guide for spyware attacks, developed by Fundación Acceso.
- The Engine Room’s Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (CAT) and our CATio Spaces.
No matter your current role, trainer, technician, advocate, organization director or support provider, this session will help you build practices of care at the center of digital safety work.
Our collaboration with Fundación Acceso
Fundación Acceso is an organization based in Central America that promotes digital protection and comprehensive physical, technological and psycho-social protection for organizations and people working in the defense of human rights in Central America. From July 2024, Fundación Acceso and the Engine Room collaborated to investigate the psychosocial impacts of spyware attacks faced by defenders in Latin America and identify strategies to offer timely and holistic support.
For this project, The Engine Room provided research and technical support in the development of two outputs. The first, an in-depth qualitative research report exploring the psychosocial dimension of digital surveillance directed against human rights defenders, justice operators and journalists in Latin America. The second, an accompaniment protocol offering methodological strategies that integrate psychosocial support tools in caring for individuals and organizations affected by spyware and surveillance technologies.
Both outputs were developed through a community-centered and participatory process with Latin American organizations and offer critical information to support communities affected by digital surveillance. You can consult the resources here.
About Digital Society of Africa (DSA)
DSA works to strengthen the digital resilience and capabilities of frontline activists, human rights defenders, and at-risk groups in our region. By safeguarding the information security of local civil society organisations, their expert network is fighting to ensure essential social justice work continues in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, and Swaziland. And by demystifying digital security practices, they’re helping everyday people protect themselves from previously unknown online risks.