Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 22 October 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.

TBI Investigation Leads to Arrest of Franklin Man Accused of Bible Distribution Fraud and Forgery

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Giancarlo Trejo, 37, following an investigation into alleged theft, forgery, and computer-related offenses. Authorities allege that while working for a religious-materials distributor, Trejo generated fraudulent contacts to collect referral fees, requested personal payments from recipients of complimentary Bibles, and used his employer’s credit card for personal expenses and travel. A Williamson County grand jury indicted Trejo on 22 charges, including felony theft, felony and other computer offenses, forgery, and criminal simulation.

Analyst Comments: This case highlights the insider-threat risks facing faith-based organizations and their vendors, particularly when employees can access customer information, financial accounts, referral programs, and organizational credit cards.

Organizations should consider:

• Separate financial responsibilities
• Independently verify referral and payment information
• Restrict access based on job duties
• Review card activity regularly
• Provide trusted channels for reporting suspected fraud.

Hackers Exploited the PHP Vulnerabilities Days Before They Were Patched

Threat actors began targeting two critical PHP2Shell vulnerabilities several days before security patches were released, and exploitation attempts increased rapidly after the flaws became public. The vulnerabilities could allow unauthenticated attackers to execute code on affected PHP servers, placing internet-facing websites and applications at risk.

Separately, CISA warned that attackers are chaining four vulnerabilities in Plex Media Server in so-called Plex2Shell attacks to compromise exposed servers. Together, the incidents demonstrate how quickly adversaries can exploit newly disclosed weaknesses, and the risks organizations inherit when third-party providers operate vulnerable internet-facing systems.

Analyst Comments: There is no direct action for most organizations beyond checking with third-party vendors to confirm that affected PHP and Plex systems have been patched.