Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 05 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.

LockBit Ransomware Gang Claims Responsibility for Attack on Saint Anthony Hospital

The LockBit ransomware gang has added Chicago’s Saint Anthony Hospital to its data leak site and is demanding a ransom payment of almost $900,000 from the nonprofit hospital to prevent the release of the stolen data. Last week, Saint Anthony Hospital confirmed that it was still investigating the attack, which was detected on December 18, 2023.

Analyst Comments:

Saint Anthony Hospital has indicated the ransom will not be paid. “As a vital safety-net hospital to the people in the communities we serve, we are dedicated to using our resources to care for our community’s most vulnerable and not to rewarding the illegal actions of bad actors,” said CIO Jeff Eilers. To learn more about LockBit, to include please reference this threat actor profile which was compiled by an international consortium of cybersecurity agencies.

California battered by ‘potentially historic’ storm

Over 500,000 customers are without power in California as of Monday morning, mostly in the northern and central parts of the state, although Los Angeles is also reporting 4,000 powerless homes and businesses. Some 38 million people are covered by flood alerts due to a weather system the National Weather Service said could be “potentially historic.” Heavy rain led to mandatory evacuations for parts of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties on Sunday and firefighters rescued 16 people from a single street in Los Angeles as mudslides caused havoc.

Analyst Comments:

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency in eight heavily populated counties across Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo and Ventura. “This is a serious storm with dangerous and potentially life-threatening impacts. Please pay attention to any emergency orders or alerts from local officials,” Newsom said in a statement shared on his website.

Virtual Event: Preventing Mass Attacks In Our Communities

In this event, researchers from the US Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center discuss their findings on mass attacks perpetrated in public and semi-public spaces, including businesses, restaurants, bars, retail outlets, houses of worship, schools, open spaces and more. Based on these findings, guidance will be provided on how communities may develop or improve existing violence prevention programs using a behavioral threat assessment model.

Analyst Comments:

Click Here To Register. Available Training Dates:

• April 4, 2024 | 12:00 – 2:00 pm EST
• June 5, 2024 | 12:00 – 2:00 pm EST
• August 7, 2024 | 12:00 – 2:00 pm EST