This DAP highlights – Fire as a Weapon Attacks Continue Against Houses of Worship. DAP also has More Faith-Based Stories and Select All-Hazard Stories. 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.
Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 14 August 2023
Faith-Based Security Headlines
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.
‘Online trolls’ target 26 synagogues in series of antisemitic swat calls and bomb threats: ADL
In a statement issued over the weekend, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) noted a group of online trolls has targeted more than two dozen synagogues and two ADL offices over the past four weekends with swatting and fake bomb threats. In the statement, ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt called for law enforcement and community partners to help “mitigate the ongoing disruption to Jewish prayer services” and noted the group of online trolls appears to have expanded its targets, including to several African-American churches and a news organization. Some of the individual incidents have been reported in the news, including bomb threats targeting two California synagogues, in Fremont on Friday and Fullerton on Saturday.
Swatting refers to the deliberate and malevolent act of falsely reporting a crime or emergency with the intention of triggering an aggressive response, often involving a SWAT team, from law enforcement. This response is directed towards the target’s home or workplace, with the purpose of subjecting them to harassment and intimidation. Swatting is not a new threat, but the number of cases has grown. According to an expert on the topic, the number of cases has grown from around 400 in 2011 to more than 1,000 in 2019. The precise tally remains unknown since the FBI doesn’t track swatting as a distinct criminal category and many police departments fail to differentiate swatting from false police reports.
Swatting refers to the deliberate and malevolent act of falsely reporting a crime or emergency with the intention of triggering an aggressive response, often involving a SWAT team, from law enforcement. This response is directed towards the target’s home or workplace, with the purpose of subjecting them to harassment and intimidation. Swatting is not a new threat, but the number of cases has grown. According to an expert on the topic, the number of cases has grown from around 400 in 2011 to more than 1,000 in 2019. The precise tally remains unknown since the FBI doesn’t track swatting as a distinct criminal category and many police departments fail to differentiate swatting from false police reports.
Analyst Comment:
With swatting and bomb threats, the focus for organizations should be on effectively mitigating and responding to any incidents that do occur. This puts the onus on having an incident or emergency response plan that accounts for these contingencies. For bomb threats in particular, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has made numerous resources available, including through the Bombing Prevention webpage at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The resources include a Bomb Threat Checklist and videos on how to respond to bomb threats and suspicious or unattended items.
These threats also make it imperative to have connected with and have a good working relationship with local law enforcement and other community partners, especially since these incidents sometimes focus on faith-based organizations. Organizations that experience swatting or bomb threats should also report them to law enforcement and other partners. The ADL, for example, has an online incident reporting form, which it reminded its partners of considering the recent swatting and bomb threat activity.
While security at Faith-Based schools is a year-round effort, the above resources can assist schools in preparing for the safety of returning students.
As always, Faith-Based ISAO’s website provides resources in the Resource Library.
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This DAP highlights a group of online trolls that has targeted synagogues and other Jewish institutions with swatting and bomb threats. Every DAP also has More Faith-Based Stories and Select All-Hazard Stories. 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.
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