Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 04 June 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.

Southwest US to bake in first heat wave of season and records may fall

Parts of California, Nevada and Arizona are expected to bake this week as the first heat wave of the season arrives with triple-digit temperatures forecast for areas including Phoenix, which last summer saw a record 31 straight days of at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius).

By Wednesday, most of an area stretching from southeast California to central Arizona will see “easily their hottest” weather since last September, and record daily highs will be in jeopardy from Las Vegas to Phoenix, the National Weather Service said late Monday. Excessive heat warnings have been issued from 10 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday due to the “dangerously hot conditions,” the weather service said.

Analyst Comments:

Below are several resources that organizations will want to consider in their efforts to help keep congregations healthy and safe.

• Red Cross: Extreme Heat Safety
• National Integrated Heat Health Information System: Who is Most At Risk to Extreme Heat?
• Gov: Extreme Heat

Best Practices for securing your streaming services

ICYMI, FB-ISAO just posted a new blog highlighting a recent security awareness product that was developed by the Cyber Threat Intelligence Working Group. As the blog details, “Streaming the services for your house of worship has many benefits, such as reaching others from far away, serving those who are homebound, overcoming space limitations, and recording services. Along with the convenience lurks a shadow of vulnerability. Houses of worship need to be concerned about more than serving their congregants; they also need to be concerned for about the privacy and security of their congregations.”

Analyst Comments:

Some of the items covered in the guidance include:

• Set the tone: Educate meeting participants on best practices for video conference etiquette, rules of engagement, security, etc. For example: “Don’t sharing meeting links publicly”, “Be cautious of unexpected attendees”, or even “Anyone not following the rules will be disconnected.”
• Require Meeting Passwords: Require participants to enter a password to join.
• Beware of:
  • Malicious links in the chat: Attackers can trick participants into clicking on malicious links shared via the chat, allowing the attackers to steal credentials.
  • Stolen meeting links: One way to avoid issues of stolen links and unauthorized access to meetings is to turn on notifications that will let you know when someone has joined your meeting room without you.
  • “Zoombombing“: Zoombombing (aka Zoom raiding) is the unofficial term for uninvited individuals disrupting webinar meetings with inappropriate content or behavior.
  • Outdated software: Make sure your video conferencing software is patched with the latest vendor provided updates and have automated upgrades turned on.

You can download the security awareness product here.