Helpline Responder

Type: Volunteer

Hours: Four cases per week for 42 weeks of the year (approximately 4 hours a week)

Reporting line: Helpline Supervisor

Location: This is a remote working role, for UK and USA-based applicants only due to requirements for background checks.

The Cyber Helpline

The Cyber Helpline is a movement by the information security community to step in and fill the gap in support for victims and survivors of cybercrime, digital fraud and online harm. It is a UK-based charity that provides free, expert help to victims and survivors by helping them understand, contain, recover and learn from experiencing a malicious online issue. We have directly helped over 70,000 individuals and families in the UK and the USA. 

On top of the opportunity to do some good with your skills, The Cyber Helpline will offer you the opportunity for training, skills development, and career development opportunities. Ideal for individuals seeking to join or advance in the cybersecurity industry, or to use their experience to give back to the community.

Role Summary

This role is a unique chance to use your technical skills to directly support real people. You will work directly with victims and survivors of cybercrime and online harms to help them recover. 

As a Helpline Responder, you will work directly with victims and survivors over the phone and email to help them understand, contain, evidence, recover, and learn from cybersecurity incidents. You will provide a reassuring experience to the service user and will be able to speak in non-technical terms throughout the case. 

You will receive training to understand the role and response methodologies for each type of cybercrime we support. 

Key Responsibilities

The Helpline Responder will:

  • Work with victims and survivors to understand the extent of their issue

  • Explain what has happened to the victim-survivor and what other issues may arise as part of their case

  • Help the victim-survivor collect evidence and support reporting to the police or other organisations 

  • Provide phone, email and SMS advice on options to contain, recover and learn from cybersecurity incidents 

  • Communicate and collaborate with other agencies, such as stalking charities and law enforcement, to ensure good outcomes for the service user

  • Support research and development, including areas such as the threat landscape, playbook development, technology assessment and internal improvement 

  • Perform necessary admin functions around the case lifecycle

The Helpline Responder will not provide: 

  • Any remote technical support to fix the issue, we will simply help them understand what the issue is, what options they have, recommend a course of action and then provide advice to help them fix the issue. 

  • Any legal advice

  • Any in-person support to fix the issue

  • Mental health support or other non-cybersecurity advice

Person Specification

Essential

  • Passionate about our goal of helping victims and survivors of cybercrime and online harm understand, contain, recover, and learn from attacks.

  • Good understanding of how end-user devices, online accounts, and common technologies can be targeted or misused, 

  • A demonstrable passion for cybersecurity

  • Good attention to detail and ability to see tasks through to completion

  • Consistent time to give to volunteering weekly 

  • Strong listening and communication skills. 

  • Able to communicate clearly and effectively in English, both in writing and verbally

  • Based in the UK or the USA

  • Access to a good internet connection and a quiet place to work remotely from. 

  • A device and an internet connection to access our systems

Preferred, but not necessary

  • IT, technical or cybersecurity qualifications

  • Volunteering experience

  • Experience working on a helpline or with a helpdesk tool

  • Experience working with the public

What we offer

  • High-street discounts - Thousands of discounts on travel, shopping, wellbeing, entertainment and more.

  • Flexible and remote volunteering - we are a remote-first organisation, you’ll have the freedom to volunteer from home (or away - subject to approval).

  • Cybersecurity at home - we offer free cybersecurity tools including endpoint protection and VPNs to protect your home devices to stay safe online personally, and professionally.

  • Professional development - Access to ad-hoc training based on your role and professional growth interests

  • Cybersecurity community - Join a supportive network of over 150 cybersecurity professionals in the UK and USA