Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 16 October 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.

Best Practices for Securing Your Site Effectively – FB-ISAO (faithbased-isao.org)

From the FB-ISAO post:

Most threat actors are financially motivated – they’re out to make lots of money, so they will target huge organizations. Others may have political, social, monetary or religious motives. Some can’t be tracked or anticipated from crime to crime, and they attack simply because, as Alfred said in the Batman movie, “they want to watch the world burn.”  So while many FBOs may not have large monetary and intellectual property reserves, they still may be targets of hacktivists.

Did You know? Some of the more common attacks faced by FBOs are:

• • DDoS(Distributed Denial of Service),
  • Website defacement
  • Stealing and Sharing Data (name and shame)

FB-ISAO has created a security awareness product to help Faith-Based Organizations defend their website from these threats.

To protect a faith-based website, and make it more resilient, download the PDF – The Art of Defense: How to Secure Your Site Effectively

Analyst Comments:

This cybersecurity guidance was crafted by FB-ISAO’s Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTIG) Group. FB-ISAO members, who are knowledgeable about securing their faith-based organizations and understand the faith community’s needs, inform and develop some of the FB-ISAO’s products.

FB-ISAO members can become part of a FB-ISAO Working Group and contribute to the security and resilience of the faith community. The following are current Working Groups:

• Cyber Threat Intelligence
• Operational Resilience
• Threat and Incident Response
• Preparedness
• Communications
• Outreach & Engagement

Learn more about the Working Groups here. Members can write to [email protected] to join a working group and share their knowledge and talent.

If not already a member, consider joining here.

Hurricane Recover

9 Ways to Stay Safe Cleaning Up Debris After a Disaster

The FEMA post details the following recommendation:

1 – Prioritize safety.

2 – Check with local officials before placing debris for collection.

3 – Contact your insurance company early to file a claim.

4 – Seek professional help.

5 – Be cautious around power lines.

6 – Clean and disinfect everything that got wet.

7 – Be aware of hazardous materials and toxic substances.

8 – Know how to separate debris and where to place it.

9 – Find an organization that can help.

Were You Affected by Hurricane Helene? 7 Things to Know About Applying for Disaster Assistance

The FEMA post details the following:

1 – What is disaster assistance?

2 – How to apply

3 – The information you’ll need to apply

4 – Remember to document your damage

5 – If you have insurance, file a claim

6 – What does FEMA assistance help with?

7 – What comes next?

Additional Items:

• Individual Assistance | FEMA.gov
• Get Assistance After a Disaster | FEMA.gov

Analyst Comments:

While much of the country was not affected by the recent hurricanes, many know someone who does live in these areas. Those in a more secure environment can possibly assist those in the affected area with applying for assistance. Also, in the future, anyone may be affected by a natural or manmade disaster. This information may be of use in the future.