Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 13 August 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.

Masked attacker stabs five outside Turkish mosque, broadcasts assault live on X

A masked man wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest on Monday stabbed at least five people outside a mosque in northwest Turkey before being detained by police, according to local media reports. The 18-year-old suspect, armed with a long knife, broadcast the attack at the tea garden of a mosque in the city of Eskisehir live on X before police apprehended him, local media reported… The assailant did not shout or express any motivation for his actions according to the daily Cumhuriyet, which claimed he was “influenced by war games”.

Analyst Comments:

Sadly, this attack with an edged weapon is a reminder that hostile events do not always involve active shooters. Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) should consider taking security measures to reduce their vulnerability to a wide variety of threats.

Man stabs a girl and her mother in a London tourism hot spot before being arrested, police say is not believed to be terror related but does show the risk of edged weapon attacks.

Nerd Out EP 50. Venue protection, 2/3 of the year awards, acolytes and dragons!

The Gate 15 Nerd Out! Security Panel Discussion, moderated by Dave Pounder, focuses on physical security topics including terrorism, extremism, hostile events, and other pertinent topics.

In the latest episode of Nerd Out, Dave and Alec looked at some recent security concerns related to venues including the cancellation of Taylor Swift concerts in Austria, and sabotage surround the Olympics. Then they moved to the 2/3 of the year awards – congratulations to our winners!

• MVP. Secure by Design. 
• The Cobra (Sly Stallone) Award (you’re the disease, and I’m the cure). Gate 15 GRIP (no shameless plugs).
• The Dennis Green (they are who we thought they are). Politically motivated threat actors.
• The Aldus Snow (don’t forget about me). Ransomware – as if there was another.
• Dumpster Fire award – CrowdStrike – despite their up front stance and taking accountability, this is still a big deal.
• Scotty Doesn’t Know award (the threat that is lurking within). AI powered BEC. 
• Avengers Team Up award. Co-winners. Companies helping rural healthcare and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s office for helping faith-based organizations.
• Heath Ledger Joker award. Accelerationist – they just want to watch the world burn.

Then the nerds go all in on the season and the finales of the Acolyte and House of the Dragon.

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