Working with Documents

This section describes how to handle unusual file formats, safely research submissions, remove metadata, and mitigate risks from submitted malware.

Tip

This is only a very limited introduction. Freedom of the Press Foundation publishes and maintains digital security guides for journalists, many of which relate to these topics, and offers digital security training for news organization staff.

Handling File Formats

SecureDrop accepts submissions of any file type.

Researching Submissions

Journalists should take care to research submissions using the Tor Browser.

Removing Metadata

Tip

For detailed information about removing metadata from documents, check out this in-depth guide to removing metadata.

Risks From Malware

SecureDrop does not scan for or remove malware in submissions you receive. There are important steps you can take to protect yourself:

  1. Keep your SecureDrop Workstation up-to-date.

  2. Print documents from the SecureDrop Workstation instead of exporting them digitally, whenever possible.

    Printing documents prevents the proliferation of malware to your everyday workstation, and eliminates most categories of embedded metadata. Note that printing a document may still preserve watermarks, printer codes, steganographically encoded data, or other information not visible to the naked eye.

  3. Consult with your administrator or your digital security staff before copying files digitally.

    If you must copy a file in digital form (because of its format, the volume of information, or for other reasons), we recommend taking the time to consult with technical experts within the organization.

    Tip

    Converting files to simpler formats (e.g., PDF to PNG) can help reduce the risk of malware. Tails provides both graphical and command-line utilities that can be used for this purpose.

  4. Never scan QR codes embedded in documents using a network-connected device.

    QR codes can contain malicious links that your device will automatically visit. This can alert third-parties to your actions, reveal the identities of your sources, and breach the air gap that is in place with the Secure Viewing Station.

    In general, be careful when opening any links provided in a SecureDrop submission. If you are unsure if a link is safe to click, you should consult internally, or contact Freedom of the Press Foundation for assistance.

  5. Don’t photograph submissions using your smartphone, and be careful with all digital photography.

    Many smartphones are configured to back up photographs to cloud services, immediately or intermittently; newer digital cameras have similar functionality. Not all backup settings may be visible to you.

    Any digital photograph will include certain metadata by default, which may reveal sensitive information about your SecureDrop usage patterns (potentially including GPS coordinates) to anyone who gains access to the file.

Warning

If you have not memorized the passphrases to unlock the USB drives for the Secure Viewing Station or the Transfer Device, you may need to access a password manager on your phone or laptop to do so. We recommend switching any required electronic devices into airplane mode, and securely storing any devices you do not need outside the environment in which you access the Secure Viewing Station. This further mitigates the risk of accidentally compromising the air-gap.

Fully mitigating the risks of malware received via SecureDrop is beyond the scope of this documentation. If you have questions, you can contact us at securedrop@freedom.press (GPG encrypted). Please do NOT disclose details about the contents of any submission you have received.

Moving Documents to Your Everyday Workstation

Important

As noted above, SecureDrop does not scan for or remove malware. If the file you received contains malware targeting the operating system and applications running on your everyday workstation, copying it in its original form carries the risk of spreading malware to that computer. Make sure you understand the risks, and consider other methods to export the document (e.g., print).

If you must copy a file from your SecureDrop Workstation to your everyday workstation in digital form, our recommendation is that journalists are provided with an Export Device, typically a USB drive, which is encrypted using VeraCrypt. These instructions assume that you are following the recommended workflow. If you are unsure, ask your administrator.

Decrypting and Preparing to Publish

Note

To decrypt a VeraCrypt drive on a Windows or Mac workstation, you need to have the VeraCrypt software installed. If you are unsure if you have the software installed or how to use it, ask your administrator, or see the Freedom of the Press Foundation guide for working with VeraCrypt.

To access the Export Device on your everyday workstation, follow these steps:

  1. If your Export Device has a physical write protection switch, make sure it is in the locked position.

  2. Plug the Export Device into your everyday workstation.

  3. Launch the VeraCrypt application.

  4. Click Select Device and select the Export Device, then click OK.

  5. Click Mount.

  6. Enter the passphrase for your Export Device. You should find this in your own personal password manager.

  7. Open the Export Device in your operating system’s file manager, and copy the contents of interest to your everyday workstation.

As a security precaution, we recommend deleting the files on the Export Device after each copy operation. If you are using write protection, you have to perform this step on the Secure Viewing Station to get the security benefits of write protection.

When you are done, switch back to the VeraCrypt window, and click Dismount.

You are now ready to write articles and blog posts, edit video and audio, and begin publishing important, high-impact work!

Tip

Check out our SecureDrop Promotion Guide to read about encouraging sources to use SecureDrop.

Deleting submissions and source accounts

As part of routine SecureDrop usage, we recommend that you establish data retention practices consistent with your organization’s threat model, data lifecycle and data retention policies. Regularly deleting submissions and source accounts can mitigate risks in the event that your SecureDrop servers or a source’s account details are compromised.

If you delete messages and files for a source, the source will continue to appear in the list of sources in the SecureDrop App, and they will still be able to log into the Source Interface using their codename. Consider using this option as part of regular deletion of reviewed submissions, especially if you are not sure that all communication with the source has concluded.

Note

If you delete all messages and files, that includes all replies you have sent to the source, even if the source has not seen them yet. You will still be able to send new replies.

If you delete the entire source account, the source will not be able to log in again using their codename, and all information about them will be destroyed. Consider using this option if it is clear that all communication with the source has concluded, or if the source has requested that all information about them and their submissions should be removed.

You can more selectively delete source submissions and journalist replies by clicking the source’s two-word designation in the list of all sources.