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Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post

Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 30 September 2024

Faith-Based Security Headlines

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.

Recent Ransomware Incidents

INC Ransom, one of the many ransomware groups, had a very active weekend. Attacks have occurred against several Faith-Based Organizations.

Analyst Comments:

Ransomware continues to be a cyberthreat against Faith-Based Organizations (FBO). FBOs can improve their ransomware resilience by reviewing FB-ISAO’s What We Learned About Ransomware Resilience blog. Here are some highlights:

  • Plan. Have a cyber incident response plan (IRP) and know that an IRP is not the same as a ransomware plan.
  • Exercise. (No! not the kind you do at the gym!). As with building resilience to all-hazards, hold discussion-based exercises, to include executive workshops & tabletops, and also conduct drills, and consider other operational exercises.
  • Share Information. Information sharing build resilience across a whole community.
  • Enable Multi-factor Authentication (MFA). MFA is a way to verify user identity that is more secure than the classic username-password combination.

Daily, the team posts a ransomware report to the FB-ISAO #pir_05-fbo_imminent_cyber_threat Slack channel. Knowing details of current cyberattacks against other FBOs can aid in detecting attacks.

The Pig Butchering Invasion Has Begun

Wired reports:

In 2023, the FBI had reports of nearly $4 billion in losses from the scams, and some researchers put all-time total global losses at $75 billion or more. Beijing has made a concerted effort in recent months to crack down on pig butchering schemes and human trafficking to scamming centers in the Southeast Asian region, but the activity is proliferating around the world nonetheless.

Analyst Comments:

FINANCIAL INDUSTRY REGULATORY AUTHORITY (FINRA) provides ‘Pig Butchering’ Scams: What They Are and How to Avoid Them.

FINRA explains “So named in reference to the practice of fattening a pig before slaughter, these scams often involve fraudsters contacting targets seemingly at random, then gaining trust before ultimately manipulating their targets into phony investments and disappearing with the funds.” The FINRA website also details the “Pig Butchering” scam process.

FINRA provides details on the following warning signs:

  • Unexpected contact
  • Refusal to participate in video chats
  • Request for financial information
  • Invitation to invest in specific financial products
  • Unknown or confusing investment opportunity
  • Unfamiliar trading platforms
  • Exaggerated claims and elevated emotions
  • Sense of urgency about an upcoming news announcement or share price increase

Also, FINRA’s BrokerCheck will tell if a promoter is a registered investment professional.

Select All Hazard Stories

Supplies rushed to communities isolated by Helene as death toll rises to nearly 100

Hurricane Helene Update: More Than a Million Americans Still Without Power

Over 90,000 Georgia residents sheltering a day after chemical plant fire sends chlorine into the air

Israel hints at Lebanon invasion as Hezbollah says it’s ‘ready’ for ground offensive

Lebanon: Travel Advisory Remains Level 4 – Do Not Travel

Dockworkers Strike Could Begin Tuesday, With Talks at an Impasse

Former Candidate for 13th Congressional District of Florida Charged for Election-Related Threat to Former Primary Candidate and Private Citizen

District attorney’s office staffer tried to make a bomb to blow up migrant shelter, police say

California Man Charged in Complaint Alleging He Injured Five People in Bomb Attack in Lobby of County Courthouse

Improving Museum Security and Visitor Experiences

Fire Weather Concerns for the Plains; Extreme Heat for Southwest; Heavy Rainfall for Mid-Atlantic National Weather Service

COVID numbers decline slightly across US; RSV, flu activity low

Indictment Alleges the Activity Was a More Recent Phase of a Wide-Ranging Hacking Conspiracy in Support of IRGC Targeting of Current and Former U.S. Officials

Iranian Cyber Actors Targeting Personal Accounts to Support Operations

CISA Faces Challenges Sharing Cyber Threat Information as Required by the Cybersecurity Act of 2015

Likely Chinese State-Linked Inauthentic Accounts Push #FCIA Campaign to Discredit U.S. Institutions

5 Days With Elon Musk on X: Deepfakes, Falsehoods and Lots of Memes

How to Know if Your Website Is Hacked

More Security-focused Content

Attacks on Houses of Worship in 2023
Read the March 2024 Threat Level Statement Update
Access all-hazards resources from public and private sector partners, curated by the FB-ISAO team.

The FB-ISAO’s sponsor Gate 15 publishes a free daily newsletter called the SUN. Curated from their open source intelligence collection process, the SUN informs leaders and analysts with the critical news of the day and provides a holistic look at the current global, all-hazards threat environment. Ahead of the daily news cycle, the SUN allows current situational awareness into the topics that will impact your organization. To sign-up for the SUN, send an email to gate15@gate15.global

Learn More About Gate 15’s Enhanced Intel Solutions

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