Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 8 January 2025

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.

Target Rich, Cyber Poor: Strengthening Our Nation’s Critical Infrastructure Sectors

From the CISA blog:

Our nation’s critical infrastructure—the services Americans rely on every day—is under continuous threat by nation-state cyber adversaries and cybercriminal organizations around the globe. Over the last several years, we’ve witnessed increasingly frequent and complex attacks against small and medium sized businesses, K-12 schools, water utilities, and healthcare organizations, including hospitals, which were in the past considered “off-limits.” 

Many small and medium sized organizations, think that they’re too small to be targeted by cyber criminals. This is simply not true. In reality, small and medium sized businesses have valuable information that cyber criminals seek and often have fewer resources dedicated to cybersecurity. To counter our adversaries, CISA has been focused on supporting small businesses by sharing key cybersecurity and physical resources and tips—many of which can be found on our Small and Medium Businesses webpage–so small businesses can protect their networks, operations, data, and employees.

• • CISA provides a list of free cybersecurity tools and servicesprovided by private and public sector organizations across the cyber community targeted at small and medium sized organizations.
  • CISA created govto serve as a one-stop-shop of free resources for organizations of any size to protect themselves from becoming victims of ransomware. 
  • CISA’s Power of Hello resourcescan help business owners and their employees identify and effectively respond to suspicious behavior. 

The blog also provides resources for specific critical infrastructure, including:

• Cybersecurity for K-12 Education webpage 
• Protecting Our Future: Partnering to Safeguard K-12 Organizations from Cybersecurity Threats report and toolkit

Analyst Comments:

The CISA blog cites the increasingly frequent and complex attacks against small and medium sized businesses, K-12 schools, and hospitals, which in the past were considered “off-limits.”

Most Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) can have the same vulnerabilities and face the same threats as secular small and medium sized businesses. Also, many FBOs operate schools and hospitals.

FBOs should consider utilizing CISA’s resources for small and medium businesses.

Identity Theft Awareness Week 2025 is coming!

From the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website:

Are you interested in learning more about how to protect yourself from identity theft? Check out Identity Theft Awareness Week. During the week, the FTC and its partners will host free webinars and other events to talk about how to spot, avoid, report, and recover from identity theft. Mark your calendars. Identity Theft Awareness Week starts Monday, January 27!

…

Here are some ways you can participate in and support your community during Identity Theft Awareness Week:

• • Visit the Identity Theft Awareness Week 2025 websiteto find out about scheduled events you can participate in.
  • Get information in multiple languages about how to spot, avoid, and report identity theft at gov/languagesand share it in your community.
  • Watch and share videos on social media in English, Spanish, Chinese,and Korean.
  • Share images before and during Identity Theft Awareness Week on your social media to help gather support and attention.
  • Order publications, including bookmarks and one-page flyers, and share them with people you know or place them at places of worship and libraries where people can find them.

Analyst Comments:

As suggested in the above final bullet, Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) should consider  sharing FTC publications “at places of worship and libraries where people can find them.”

Also, FBO members should consider utilizing FTC resources to protect their identity while performing FBO business and in their personal life.

Weekly Security Sprint EP 93. New Orleans, Las Vegas, HEAC and resolutions | Gate 15

The Gate 15 Security Sprint is a weekly rundown of the week’s notable all-hazards security news, risks and threats and some of the key focus areas for organizations to consider behind the headlines. Gate 15 team members discuss physical security, cybersecurity, natural hazards, health threats and other issues across our environment.

In this week’s Security Sprint, Dave and Andy covered the following topics:

• Special Agent in Charge Joshua Jackson, ATF, Delivers Investigative Updates on the New Orleans Bourbon Street Attack
• FBI: 2 IEDs failed to detonate in New Orleans New Year’s Day ramming attack
• FBI says New Orleans attacker surveyed area using Meta smart glasses
• Cybertruck driver left behind rant praising Trump and Musk, slamming Democrats
• ‘TIME TO WAKE UP’: Las Vegas police share notes from Cybertruck explosion suspect
• Matthew Livelsberger Alleged Manifesto: Read Full Email Sent to Retired Soldier
• Vegas Cybertruck Bomber Who Called for ‘Purge’ of Dems Deemed Not a ‘Risk’ to Public After He Sought VA Mental Health Help

The above Gate 15 Weekly Security Sprint website also provides links to many security-related items of interest.

Information on other Gate 15 podcasts can be found at Podcasts (gate15.global).