Digital Security Lab Ukraine (DSLU) is a Ukrainian civil society organisation working to strengthen digital security, protect digital rights, and support media freedom. Through technical assistance, cybersecurity incident response, legal expertise, policy advocacy, and international cooperation, DSLU helps civil society organisations, journalists, and human rights defenders operate more securely in an increasingly complex digital environment. In 2025, DSLU continued to work closely with national and international partners, including government institutions, civil society organisations, technology companies, and international organisations, contributing expertise to both practical security initiatives and the development of digital rights and cybersecurity policies.
Security
In 2025, DSLU continued to strengthen the digital resilience of Ukrainian civil society by providing incident response, security consultations, technical support, audits, and practical capacity-building. The team supported more than 60 organisations, handled over 150 security incidents, delivered 300+ consultations, and conducted security audits focused on improving organisational resilience against evolving cyber threats. Phishing and spear-phishing remained the dominant threats, with attackers increasingly abusing trusted services and legitimate cloud infrastructure to compromise organisations.
A notable example was the joint investigation with SentinelLABS into the PhantomCaptcha campaign – a sophisticated multi-stage spear-phishing operation targeting Ukrainian organisations that combined social engineering with malware delivery. DSLU also published technical analyses of multiple phishing campaigns and regularly shared threat intelligence with the community through MISP events and incident alerts.
Legal and Policy
Throughout 2025, DSLU continued advancing digital rights and media freedom by supporting Ukraine’s alignment with EU legislation and international human rights standards. The organisation contributed to the implementation of the Digital Services Act, AI governance, personal data protection, media regulation, and Ukraine’s EU accession process, while also producing legal analysis and policy recommendations for government institutions and international stakeholders.
One of the year’s key achievements was the publication of the annual report “Human Rights in the Digital Dimension. 2024“, which assessed Ukraine’s compliance with international digital rights obligations during wartime and EU integration. The report provided a comprehensive analysis of legislative developments, human rights challenges, and policy recommendations across key digital rights domains, supporting evidence-based policymaking and advocacy.
Sources of Financial Support
DSLU’s work in 2025 was made possible by the following partners and donors.
