Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 19 August 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. 

Ransomware Incident Review January to June 2025

FB-ISAO has released our mid-year ransomware incident review for 2025, covering the period from January 1^st to June 30^th. During this timeframe, 36 faith-based organizations including 15 churches and 5 faith-based schools were victims of ransomware attacks. This marks a significant increase in cyberattacks against religious and nonprofit entities, highlighting their vulnerability due to often limited cybersecurity resources and preparedness. The rise in attacks coincides with escalating geopolitical tensions, particularly related to the Iran conflict, which was reportedly led to a 700% increase in cyberattacks since the Middle East escalated.

We continue to emphasize the importance of building ransomware resilience through proactive measures. The post offers recommendations such as developing a comprehensive cyber incident response plan, conducting tabletop exercises and drills, sharing information within the community to enhance collective resilience, enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA), and promptly updating and patching systems to maintain security.

Putin-Zelensky Meeting Arranged by Trump: Everything We Know

U.S. President Trump is actively working to arrange a direct meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, with intentions to follow that with a trilateral summit involving all three leaders. European leaders, present at a White House gathering with Trump and Zelenskyy in August, have backed the idea of security guarantees for Ukraine, modeled on NATO’s Article 5 with European nations shouldering much of the burden and the U.S. coordinating the effort. Continuing hostilities in Ukraine contrast with these diplomatic overtures. Russia launched one of the most extensive aerial attacks of August, sending 270 drones and 10 missiles and killing 15 people while injuring 76 across multiple regions.

Analyst Comments: The current diplomatic efforts show Trump positioning himself as a central broker between Russia and Ukraine, potentially reshaping U.S. foreign policy and global perceptions. The push for European-led security guarantees represents a shift signaling that Europe may assume greater responsibility for Ukraine’s defense. Meanwhile, the ongoing Russia airstrikes highlight contradiction with peace negotiations while violence is still unfolding.

Hack Yourself First: Pen Testing for Prevention

The article by Gate 15 emphasizes the importance of proactive defense through authorized penetration testing commonly known as pen-testing, as a critical component in ransomware resilience. Unlike automated vulnerability scans, these controlled simulations mimic real-world attacker behavior to uncover vulnerabilities, including misconfigurations, outdated systems, weak passwords, and insecure remote access points. Pen-test assess each state of the common ransomware attack chain, initial access, privilege escalation, lateral movement, and data exfiltration or encryption and help identify systemic weaknesses before attackers exploit them.