Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 27 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.

National Crime Victimization Survey Shows Violent Crime Plummeted in 2025

Preliminary Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) estimates from the redesigned National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) indicate significant declines across several crime categories in 2025. Highlights include:

• Serious violent victimization fell 25%, from 9.9 to 7.4 incidents per 1,000 people age 12 or older, while
• Aggravated assault dropped 31%, from 4.5 to 3.1 per 1,000.
• Property victimization declined 19%, with
• Burglary or trespassing declined 25%,
• Motor vehicle theft declined 30%, and
• Other household theft declined 19%.

Based on a nationally representative sample of approximately 240,000 people in 150,000 households, the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) collects information directly from people age 12 and older about nonfatal violent and household property crimes, including incidents reported and not reported to police. Respondents describe their victimization experiences, the circumstances of each incident, and whether they reported it to law enforcement. These self-reported accounts complement police-reported crime statistics by capturing incidents that may not appear in law enforcement records. The 2025 findings provide the first estimates from the fully implemented redesigned survey instrument. The findings follow a separate BJS report showing a 17% decline in the homicide rate from 2024 to 2025.

Analyst Comments: Although the findings provide a comparison with prior survey estimates, the redesigned NCVS instrument limits direct comparisons with previous years. The results offer an initial view of reported victimization levels but require cautious interpretation. Future survey releases and other crime data sources will help establish whether these findings reflect sustained changes in crime rates.

The FB-ISAO has released its own All-Faiths Analysis of Attacks on U.S. Houses of Worship in 2025, examining reported incidents targeting faith-based facilities across the United States. The analysis provides insight into the types of attacks reported, affected faith communities, and trends relevant to physical security and protective measures for houses of worship.

CISA 2030 Sets Out ‘Aggressive, Anticipatory’ Cyber Defense Strategy for Critical Infrastructure

CISA’s new 2030 strategy, Defend, Harden, Prevail, outlines a shift toward proactive, intelligence-driven cyber defense to address threats affecting U.S. critical infrastructure. The strategy establishes three pillars focused on strengthening national cyber defenses, prioritizing infrastructure security, and improving resilience against disruptions.

Defend: Lead National Cyber Defense. CISA plans to integrate cyber defense capabilities across federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, private industry, and international partners. Efforts will focus on improving threat awareness, modernizing operational technology (OT) environments, strengthening supply chain security, and accelerating the assessment and deployment of emerging cybersecurity technologies.

Harden: Prioritize National Infrastructure Security. CISA will integrate intelligence into critical infrastructure security operations to improve real-time decision-making, alerts, and operational response. The strategy also emphasizes targeted investments in modernized tools and intelligence-driven prioritization to direct resources toward the areas with the greatest impact on national infrastructure security.

Prevail: Mobilize National Resilience. CISA aims to strengthen resilience by expanding priority telecommunications services and improving emergency connectivity. Planned efforts include investing in scalable, encrypted, and resilient infrastructure to protect emergency communications, support coordinated operations and maintain essential functions during cyber incidents and other disruptions.

CISA plans to release an implementation and outcomes framework within 180 days and provide a progress update within 365 days. The strategy reinforces the importance of public-private coordination, modernized cyber defenses, and national resilience in protecting critical infrastructure.

Analyst Comments: The strategy signals a more proactive federal approach to protecting critical infrastructure, with greater emphasis on integrated intelligence, rapid response, operational resilience, and collaboration across government and industry.

For faith-based organizations, the capabilities to mount proactive cyber defense operations are not there. However, increased collaboration will be important for under resourced critical infrastructure sectors and sub-sectors, such as the faith-based community. This initiative’s impact will depend on how CISA translates these three broad pillars into funded, measurable initiatives, coordinates responsibilities among partners, and demonstrates progress through the implementation framework and subsequent updates.

Additional Reading:

• CISA publishes strategy with eye on the next four years