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16/09/2026 9:20 am
TL;DR: Digital civic participation now depends on secure identities, protected communications, and practical access controls, according to Yubico’s Secure it Forward update. The core issue is not stronger security in the abstract, but making identity protection usable for nonprofits, media, and civic groups whose operational resilience depends on it.
NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Yubico: Secure it Forward and civic identity resilience
By the numbers:
- In 2025, the number of new organizations joining Secure it Forward grew by more than 300%.
Questions worth separating out
Q: How should civic organisations protect email and collaboration accounts from takeover?
A: Use phishing-resistant authentication for the accounts that control publishing, administration, and internal coordination.
Q: Why is identity security so important for nonprofits and civil society groups?
A: Because their work depends on trusted communications, and a single compromised account can interrupt publishing, organising, fundraising, or campaign operations.
Q: What security controls should small organisations prioritise first?
A: Start with the accounts that carry the highest continuity risk, especially mail, admin, and public-facing publishing roles.
Practitioner guidance
- Prioritise phishing-resistant authentication for high-impact accounts Focus first on mailbox owners, administrators, publishers, and campaign staff whose compromise would interrupt communications or public-facing operations.
- Map the identities that keep civic operations running Identify which human accounts, shared access paths, and supporting service identities control publishing, coordination, and administrative change.
- Bundle rollout support with the control itself Adopt security tools only where training, onboarding, and recovery processes are part of the deployment plan.
What's in the full article
Yubico's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:
- The Secure it Forward partnership structure and how donations are allocated across civil society partners
- The role of eQualitie and Defending Digital Campaigns in distributing devices and support
- The specific 2026 donation commitments, including 900 YubiKeys for eQualitie
- The broader mission context for expanding access to stronger security in civic organisations
👉 Read Yubico’s Secure it Forward update on civic identity resilience →
Civic identity resilience: what IAM teams need to support?
Explore further
16/09/2026 9:21 am
Identity security is civic infrastructure when a compromise can silence public-interest work. The article correctly frames account protection as an operational dependency rather than a technical preference. When journalists, campaign staff, or community organisers lose access, the harm is immediate because communications, publication, and coordination all depend on trusted digital identities.
A few things that frame the scale:
- 67% of organisations still rely heavily on static credentials despite the risks they pose to agentic AI deployments, according to The 2026 Infrastructure Identity Survey.
- Only 13% of organisations feel extremely prepared for the reality of agentic AI, which is another sign that identity governance is lagging operational adoption.
A question worth separating out:
Q: How do teams know whether their identity controls fit low-resource environments?
A: If a control requires specialist staff, constant tuning, or fragile user workarounds, it is probably not fit for purpose. A workable programme keeps access resilient, supports recovery, and reduces the chance that one lost credential can stop core operations.
👉 Read our full editorial: Digital identity resilience is now civic infrastructure
