Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 21 February 2024

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.

FB-ISAO: What We Learned About Ransomware Resilience

This Faith-Based Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (FB-ISAO) blog reports that In 2023, FB-ISAO, along with our information sharing partners, tracked 77 ransomware incidents that have directly or indirectly affected the faith-based and non-profit community. The increase in incidents from the previous year is dramatic.

The blog covers what was learned and presented considerations for building ransomware resilience, including:

• Plan
• Exercise
• Share Information
• Enable Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)
• Patch!

Six things we learned from the LockBit takedown

TechCrunch reported the following that has been learned so far about the LockBit takedown:

• LockBit didn’t delete victims’ data — even if they paid
• Even ransomware gangs fail to patch vulnerabilities
• Ransomware takedowns take a long time
• LockBit has hacked more than 2,000 organizations
• Sanctions targeting a key LockBit member may affect other ransomware
• The British have a sense of humor

Analyst Comments:

The FB-ISAO’s blog above provides essential steps to take to defend against ransomware.

FRC Publishes New Edition of Hostility Against Churches Report Indicating a Doubling of Attacks

Notable findings in this report include, but are not limited to:

• Over the past six years (2018-2023), FRC has identified 915 acts of hostility against U.S. churches. The types of acts identified included vandalism, arson, gun-related incidents, bomb threats, and more.
• In 2023, at least 436 acts of hostility against churches occurred in the United States, more than double the number identified in 2022.
• In 2023, acts of hostility against churches took place in 48 states and the District of Columbia, with more occurring in states with larger populations. California had the most incidents, with 33. Texas had 28 incidents. Hawaii and Wyoming had none.
• Criminal acts of vandalism and destruction of church property may be symptomatic of a collapse in societal reverence and respect for houses of worship and religion.

Analyst Comments:

Today, FEMA Hosts Webinar on Spring Religious Observance Safety and Security . This webinar can provide useful information to defend against hostility aimed at FBOs. This webinar is at 2 pm Eastern, TODAY.

FB-ISAO’s 2023 Threat Data in Review can assist in assessing what threats need to be defended against.

FBO resources can be limited. Federal grants can enable FBOs to improve their security. See the information below on Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) webinars.  

Additionally, Faith-Based ISAO’s website provides resources in the Resource Library, including information on Securing Facilities and People and Informing Preparedness Activities.

Nonprofit Security Grant Program Webinar Series info from FEMA Bulletin

FEMA’s Grants Program Directorate invites interested organizations to attend upcoming webinars regarding the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP). The program uses a competitive process to award grants for facility hardening and other security enhancements to nonprofit organizations at high risk of a terrorist or other extremist attack.

The webinars will be held on the following dates and times. Click on a webinar below to register:

• Thursday, Feb. 22, at 3 p.m. ET.
• Thursday, Feb. 29, at 1 p.m. ET.
• Friday, March 8, at 2 p.m. ET.
• Thursday, March 14, at 4 p.m. ET.
• Friday, March 22, at 2 p.m. ET.

All interested organizations are required to register in advance for the webinars. Please note that the webinars will cover the same content and will not be recorded for future viewing.

If you have any questions regarding these webinars or require special accommodations, please contact [email protected].

Analyst Comments:

While there is a current heightened interest in securing houses of worship, Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) should consider long-term security needs. The above webinars will assist FBOs in securing grants to protect their facilities.

Suggestions for a Successful Grant Application

• FBOs should take advantage of all the grantor’s explanatory opportunities, such as the above webinars. The grant application process can be very complex, with very precise requirements. A better understanding of the process will improve a FBO’s chances of being awarded funds.
• Begin work on the grant application as soon as possible, to ensure meeting all deadlines. Most grant processes provide an opportunity to ask questions about the process. Starting the application as soon as possible will allow applicants to ask questions and fine tune their application. Also, most grantors discard late applications, so prompt submission is a must. Though there are changes in requirements from year to year, a good baseline application can be tweaked to meet newer requirements once those are announced.
• FBOs should ensure that their proposed use of the grant money is within the grant’s requirements, even if the applicant has a greater need in an area unrelated to the grant. No matter how worthy an organization’s need is, it will not be funded if it is outside the scope of the grant. 
• Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) and register in the System for Award Management at sam.gov; your organization will be assigned a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) once registered. Learn how to get a Unique Entity ID without needing to complete an entity registration on SAM.gov.
• In addition to federal grants, be alert for grant opportunities from private organizations and local and state governments. Each of these entities usually have a grants office which FBOs can regularly monitor. There may also be an opportunity to be emailed alerts on future grants.