Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 24 September 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.

2025 underwriting trends for churches

From Church Executive:

Online church (and meetings, youth group and Sunday school offerings) can be convenient and an opportunity to spread the word. But they also open your congregation to a significant amount of risk associated with cybersecurity — which in turn can affect insurability and premiums. Churches should emphasize increased efforts to protect their network and members’ personal and financial data. Some of the most important steps include:

• Bring a security vendor on board. 
• Limit which staff members and volunteers can access confidential data. 
• Maintain network security. 
• Keep a clean machine. 

Analyst Comments:

The Church Executive article may serve as a guide for Faith-Based Organizations to assess their cybersecurity risks and how to protect their organization.

JCAT First Responders Toolbox: Enhancing Bystander Reporting to Prevent Terrorism

Bystanders who recognize, intervene, and report concerning behaviors and indicators to authorities enhance terrorism prevention. However, some bystanders face barriers to reporting these indicators. This First Responder’s Toolbox highlights considerations for engaging with bystanders to overcome those barriers PDF

Analyst Comments:

This two-page guide from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s (ODNI) Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team (JCAT) is designed for law enforcement officials. The guide discusses what may deter the general public from reporting something suspicious. This can be especially true when making a report may cause a family member to be incarcerated or when there is a fear of law enforcement. The information in the guide may be useful to Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) and their members.

Additionally, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) | JCAT First Responder’s Toolbox provides a wide variety of guidance for first responders. FBOs may find some of them useful for improving their security and resilience.