Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 10 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.

Los Angeles County Fires

• Episcopal bishop mourns ‘losses too great to bear’ as So. Calif. suffers historic wildfires
• California Churches Vow To Help As Apocalyptic Wildfires Grow
• LA Wildfires Highlight The Importance Of Fire Preparedness
• 10 dead, more than 9,000 homes, structures damaged or destroyed in L.A. County fires
• Winds that have fueled LA fires are expected to calm, giving firefighters a chance to corral flames
• A.’s red flag fire weather to last through Friday. Gusts could return Sunday
• A. County fires among most destructive fires ever recorded in California
• The L.A. Fires Have Started a Misinformation Storm
• ‘Completely Dry’: How Los Angeles Firefighters Ran Out of Water
• FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Continues to Support Life-Saving Wildfire Response Efforts in California
• Bottom of Form
• NOAA: wildfires: Get the latest fire weather forecasts and maps
• Watch: Arsonists caught on camera setting fires in ‘non-burning’ areas of Los Angeles
• Homeless man busted in connection to LA’s Kenneth Fire after video showed him with ‘flamethrower’ as he’s detained by residents
• Newsom warns looters as National Guard arrives in Los Angeles as fires continue to burn
• How Watch Duty became the go-to wildfire app to track L.A. wildfires
• Every smartphone in LA accidentally received a wildfire evacuation alert

Nationwide PowerSchool Data Breach Impacting Archdiocese of Baltimore Catholic Schools

The Archdiocese of Baltimore notified the Archdiocese of Baltimore Catholic Schools Community of the following:

We are reaching out to inform you about a nationwide data breach affecting the Archdiocese of Baltimore Department of Catholic Schools, which is part of a broader incident involving PowerSchool, a Student Information System (SIS) utilized by school districts throughout the United States. The Archdiocese’s Department of Schools and Archdiocese of Baltimore systems were not breached. Only data related to the Department of Schools that was stored on PowerSchool was affected.

Analyst Comments:

Any Community of Faith that operates a school and utilizes PowerSchool should consider contacting Powerschool to determine how they are affected and what action is being taken.

All Faith-Based Organizations that provide data to third-party organizations have the risk of their data being leaked by those organizations.

A 7 January 2025 posting by Prevalent – Third-Party Data Breaches: What You Need to Know –  lists a large number of third-party breaches, then details Best Practices for Preventing Third-Party Security Breaches Throughout the Vendor Lifecycle.

2024 saw the 2nd highest number of K-12 school shooting incidents

The K-12 School Shooting Database reports that their 2024 count of school shootings fell only 19 incidents below the 349 incidents they reported in 2023. The K-12 School Shooting Database defines school shootings as “any time a gun is fired or brandished with intent or when a bullet hits school property, regardless of the number of victims, time, day or reason.”

Analyst Comments:

The K-12 School Shooting Database report indicates that the threat of school shootings remains. Communities of Faith that operate schools should consider developing or improving their plans and procedures to prevent and respond to school shootings and other attacks. Yesterday’s DAP highlighted an incident where a potential school attack was prevented. The DAP also provided resources for Threat Reporting and Bullying Prevention.

EMR-ISAC InfoGram Jan. 9 – Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month; Product safety recalls for fire and burn hazards

The EMR-ISAC InfoGram includes the following Product safety recalls for fire and burn hazards:

• Charmast Power Banks, model W1056
• SKIL 40V 5.0 Ah Lithium-Ion Batteries
• HTRC C240 Battery Chargers
• Yoto Mini Speakers for Children
• Belkin BoostCharge Pro Fast Wireless Charger Power Banks 10K
• NetZero USA High Bay LED Light Fixtures
• The Legendary VACATION by Vacation® Black Label Scented Candles
• Christmas Wireless Decorative Tree Light Controllers
• Polaris RZR XP 1000 and XP 4 1000 Recreational Off-Road Vehicles
• John Deere ZTrak Zero Turn Mowers with Kawasaki Engines

Analyst Comments:

Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) should consider reviewing the above list of recalled items to see if any are used in their FBO work or private lives.

FB-ISAO’s 27 December 2024 Daily Awareness Post and 17 December 2024 Daily Awareness Post highlighted the potential hazards of lithium-ion batteries. The DAPs also provided guidance on safe use of items powered by lithium-ion batteries.