Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 21 August 2026

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.

Why police tipped off of potential ‘problems’ before shooting didn’t notify church leaders

A shooting occurred outside a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse in Kearns, Utah, during a funeral. One person was killed, and two others were injured. Before the shooting, Unified Police Department officers received a last-minute tip about potential “problems” at the event. Officers responded to the location, but church leaders were not notified. Police said the information arrived too late to provide notification. They had also initially determined the information did not indicate a credible threat. An officer alerted a supervisor, and police immediately responded to the reported location. One suspect has been arrested, while two people connected to the case remain hospitalized.

Analyst Comments: Strong relationships with local law enforcement can improve information sharing before potentially dangerous incidents. Regular communication can help law enforcement understand a facility’s events, concerns, and security needs. Investing time into building these relationships may also increase the likelihood that Houses of Worship receive timely information about potential problems.

Protect yourself: Multi-factor authentication

The Australian Cyber Security Centre recommends multi-factor authentication (MFA) to strengthen account security. MFA requires two or more verification factors, which adds protection beyond a password. It can defend against many password-based attacks, including credential stuffing. The guidance highlights passkeys, security keys, authenticator apps, physical tokens, and biometrics as MFA options. Authenticator apps and security keys provide stronger protection than SMS-based authentication. MFA is particularly important for email, financial, social media, and other sensitive accounts. However, users will need to be trained to avoid suspicious sign-in links and never share MFA codes. Also, recovery methods and authentication settings must remain current, especially after changing devices or phone numbers.

Analyst Comments: Multi-factor authentication can reduce the risk of account compromise for faith-based organizations. Email accounts are particularly important because attackers can use them to reset other passwords. Organizational priorities for establishing MFA include email, financial, administrative, and social media accounts.