I had a fantastic time serving on the panel for the 2020 Church Law & Finance conference – a collaboration this year between Aronson LLC and Whiteford, Taylor & Preston. Rob Eby, CPA and Erika E. Cole, Esq. put together a diverse lineup of individuals that reflected the body of Christ (i.e. the church) and showed how we can come together to provide solutions and be the example our world needs to see right now (we are supposed to be salt and light after all!).
Personally, I learned a lot about some of the financial, legal, and health/safety considerations ministries need to be aware of as we deal with the pandemic and social unrest brought about by racial inequality issues affecting our nation and the world at large.
My goal was to educate pastors and ministry leaders about the importance of cybersecurity for their organizations, which is likely a subject not discussed much (and I hope this changes). Unfortunately, adversaries are hard at work and looking for unsuspecting ministries to rip off financially – through ransomware/data theft, BEC scams and other means. The reality is the more ministries have to rely on technology during these times (e.g. implementing online giving), the more vulnerable and exposed they are.
There are some short term and long-term practical steps churches and minstries can use to avoid being a victim.
Short term
- Educate your team members on the importance of secure computing practices. All the technology and tools in the world can be undermined by one careless click on a phishing email.
- Provide your team members with appropriate tools to protect them as they support ministry work remotely.
Long-term:
- Develop and implement a cybersecurity program for your ministry.
- Conduct regular assessments of your security posture (e.g. penetration tests, vulnerability scans, etc) and address the issues found.
- Have your systems/networks continuously monitored to proactively identify potential vulnerabilities or intrusion attempts.
There was only so much I could discuss in 15 minutes. A copy of the deck I presented is attached and a replay of the conference should be available next week. If you need help or advice, please send me a direct message.
On a related note, October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. So this is an opportune a time as any to get started.
Stay #cyber safe out there!
Also shared on LinkedIn.
