Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 6 August 2024

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.

Sheriff’s Office hosts summit focusing on safety at houses of worship.

The summit included a presentation from FB-ISAO.  The Loudoun Times-Mirror article reported on FB-ISAO’s Analsyis-and-Review-of-Attacks-on-Houses-of-Worship-in-2023.pdf.

The Loudoun Times-Mirror reports:

There have been no serious incidents of violence at Loudoun County houses of worship in recent years, according to the Sheriff’s Office, and authorities say they want to work with religious groups to maintain safety.

The second annual Houses of Worship Safety Summit on Aug. 1 featured deescalation training, information on federal safety grants, and how to find and share information on incidents around Virginia and the nation. Loudoun Sheriff Mike Chapman (R) said the idea for the summit was to provide the same safety information and training to houses of worship that schools get.

…

Andy Jabbour, the co-founder of the nonprofit Faith-Based Information & Analysis Organization, urged religious leaders to join his group, which he said works with the Department of Homeland Security. The organization offers workshops on “Hostile Events Preparedness,” according to the group’s website. Jabbour said the group also shares information about incidents at houses of worship around the nation.

“We want you to be ready. We want you to be prepared (but) we don’t want you to be scared,” he said. “We’re trying to share information proactively, so we can take proactive measures to reduce risk and more effectively respond should we have to.”

The Analysis Organization’s 2023 annual report recorded 1,027 incidents at U.S. houses of worship last year, with 25 people killed and and 59 wounded. Incidents included assaults, arson, bomb threats, graffiti, shootings, stabbings, and “swatting,” hoax calls to police designed to get an armed response to a location. Guns and knives were used in 10% of the incidents. Most incidents (83%) involved graffiti, thefts or vandalism, according to the report. 

The report said 43% of the incidents occurred at Protestant churches, 32% at synagogues, 14% at Catholic churches, and 5% at mosques.

Incidents involving synagogues increased after the Israel-Hamas war began in last year, the report said. The report noted that while Catholic, Jewish and Muslim facilities comprise less than 10% of houses of worship in the U.S., they incurred 51% of the total incidents.

The report said effective security depends on “accurate and timely threat analysis and assessment” and it stressed there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

“Too often, the community understandably reacts against fear and the perception of threats rather than addressing the facts on the ground, what is present in the here and now, and whether anything has changed materially since a review was last conducted.” the report said. “Effective data and analysis can help filter out what is feared and could happen and help an individual house of worship focus on what is likely to happen and what needs to be protected against.”

Analyst Comments:

In addition to the Analsyis-and-Review-of-Attacks-on-Houses-of-Worship-in-2023.pdf, the FB-ISAO website’s Resource Library, includes information on:

• Protecting From Health Threats and Natural Hazards.
• Protecting Digital Assets.
• Securing Facilities and People.
• Securing School Facilities and Students

Members of the FB-ISAO have access to additional resources. FB-ISAO produces timely alerts, including Bulletins, Pass Throughs from other security organizations, Daily Awareness Posts, Weekly Advisories, Weekly Scoops, Newsletters, and Announcements.

Additionally, FB-ISAO members are sharing immediate information about threats in FB-ISAO Slack.

FB-ISAO also offers educational sessions and other activities to assist Faith-Based Organizations in preparedness and mitigation. 

If not already a member, consider joining here.

Follow Up on UK Riots and Disorder After Southport Stabbings

• Police called to disperse groups near mosque
• Riots and disorder in the UK: Top prosecutor considers terrorism charges over riots, as more suspects face court
• Extremists planning riots denied the Holocaust and praised Hitler
• Mosque leaders find moments of hope after violent disorder

Analyst Comments:

FB-ISAO covered the attacks in the UK and provided resources in the following DAPs:

• Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 1 August 2024
• Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 31 July 2024

Weekly Security Sprint EP 76. Sabotage, Middle East escalation, check scams, and the weatherman returns 

The Gate 15 Security Sprint is a weekly rundown of the week’s notable all-hazards security news, risks and threats and some of the key focus areas for organizations to consider behind the headlines. Gate 15 team members discuss physical security, cybersecurity, natural hazards, health threats and other issues across our environment.

On this week’s Security Sprint, Dave covered the following topics:

• Sheriff’s Office hosts summit focusing on safety at houses of worship. The Loudoun County, Virginia summit included a presentation from FB-ISAO.
• French coordinated infrastructure sabotage
• Middle East tensions and possibility of escalation with implications for the homeland
• Writing Paper Checks Is Not Safe: Cyber Security Goes Well Beyond Your Computer or Phone – National Cybersecurity Center
• Extreme heat, bone-dry vegetation and human misconduct prompting intense wildfire season
• Deadly Tropical Storm Debby begins its Southeast deluge

The above Gate 15 Weekly Security Sprint website also provides links to many security-related items of interest.

Information on other Gate 15 podcasts can be found at Podcasts (gate15.global).

Venue Security, The IAVM Podcast Series: Cyber Resilience, the Human Factor and Reducing Risk

Venue Security, The IAVM Podcast Series; Gate 15’s founder and Managing Director, Andy Jabbour, hosts short interviews with venue safety and security experts from the International Association of Venue Managers’ (IAVM) Venue Safety and Security Committee (VSSC) and other special guests from the IAVM community.

In this episode of Venue Security, The IAVM Podcast Series, Andy Jabbour talks with Ross Girouard, Assistant General Manager of the Credit Union of Texas Event Center.

In the discussion they address:

• Phishing and common Concerns
• Venue-specific cybersecurity considerations
• Cyber Resilience!
  • Network Segmentation! 
  • Phishing Simulation! 
  • Contingency Planning! 
  • Relationships & the Human Factor! 
  • Understanding risk, risk prioritization and risk management! 
  • Balancing convenience and security
• Arena football war stories
• The criticality of communications
• More!

Information on other Gate 15 podcasts can be found at Podcasts (gate15.global).