The Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia
The Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) based in Serbia is a non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting justice, reconciliation, and human rights in the Western Balkans. Founded in 2003, YIHR Serbia operates as part of a regional network with chapters in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Kosovo. Through education, research, advocacy, and youth engagement, the organization confronts nationalist ideologies, counters the glorification of war crimes, and supports a democratic and inclusive future for the region.
YIHR’s mission is rooted in the belief that sustainable peace is not simply the absence of war, but a long-term process that demands truth, accountability, and inter-community cooperation. Over the last two decades, YIHR Serbia has educated over 20,000 young people and engaged with human rights defenders, legal experts, and journalists to build a culture of remembrance, dialogue, and democratic development.
Cyberattacks Targeting Truth and Dialogue Due to the politically sensitive nature of its work, including confronting war crimes, advocating for transitional justice, and challenging state narratives, YIHR Serbia has frequently been the target of sophisticated cyberattacks. These attacks have included DDoS campaigns, malware injections, and other tactics aimed at disabling its websites and disrupting the organization’s operations.
“When access to YIHR websites is disrupted, it negatively affects the planning and execution of the organization’s activities. Unpredictable attacks on the websites interfere with the team’s work, hinder important initiatives, and make it more difficult to inform the public and implement campaigns and events. Every time the websites are temporarily disabled, it represents a lost opportunity for the organization to address topics of public interest.” says Edita Šmaković, Multimedia Coordinator at YIHR Serbia.
In June 2024, during the lead-up to the “Mirëdita, Dobar Dan!” festival, a cultural event aimed at promoting reconciliation between Serbia and Kosovo, YIHR’s websites experienced severe DDoS attacks. The festival, later banned by the Serbian government, drew widespread public attention, and the organization became a target of coordinated efforts to silence them. On June 27, the website received nearly 7 million requests in a single day, effectively shutting down access to the website.
A subsequent malware attack in October 2024 targeted warinserbia.rs, a YIHR project highlighting war crimes. Unfortunately, outdated website plugins were exploited to inject malicious code, redirecting visitors to phishing pages and locking YIHR out of its own systems.
YIHR Joins Project Galileo To respond to the growing threat landscape, YIHR Serbia applied for Project Galileo after an attack that publicly disclosed the personal data of YIHR’s staff, which raised ongoing concerns about the security of the organization’s data and its potential exposure to third parties.
“Joining Project Galileo was critical,” says Edita. “Our websites were frequently attacked, and we lacked the resources to defend ourselves effectively. Cloudflare gave us the protection we needed to continue our mission.”
Many websites for the organizations rely on Cloudflare to ensure both security and reliability for the organization. Through Project Galileo, YIHR uses tools such as DDoS protection, SSL/TLS encryption, and a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to prevent large-scale attacks from taking websites offline during politically sensitive moments.
“This level of security Cloudflare has provided us gives us peace of mind, enabling us to focus on our core work and communication, rather than constantly worrying about potential security breaches or downtime. The comprehensive protection Cloudflare offers has allowed us to create a more resilient infrastructure for our sites.” says Edita.
Another significant benefit observed was the improved speed and performance of YIHR’s websites. With audiences spanning multiple countries, these sites benefit greatly from Cloudflare’s global Content Delivery Network (CDN), which helps ensure that content loads quickly no matter where visitors are located. By caching content closer to end users and optimizing how data is routed, Cloudflare has effectively reduced latency and accelerated page load times. This boost in speed has noticeably enhanced the user experience, making site navigation smoother and more efficient. Visitors now encounter less waiting time, even when accessing the sites from geographically distant regions, an important factor for maintaining accessibility and engagement across a diverse, international audience.
In addition, YIHR Beyond uses features such as the Web Application Firewall (WAF) and Super Bot Fight Mode to enhance the performance while defending against more complex threats such as credential stuffing and automated vulnerability scans.
“We’ve seen an increase in user engagement, and the overall online presence of our organization has grown as a result. With Cloudflare, we’ve been able to focus more on the quality of our content and services, knowing that the technical aspects are well-managed, which has strengthened our ability to serve our audience effectively.”
“Our websites are not just digital tools, they are platforms for truth, dialogue, and education,” said Edita. “Cloudflare’s Project Galileo ensures that we remain visible when it matters most.”
