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As groundbreaking leaders in personal security and risk management for travelers, we stand ready to equip and serve as you are called to the ends of the Earth.
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ARE YOU PREPARED?
Faith-based guidance and practice in prevention, protection, interaction, and survival
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Collaborative workshops on assessing risks, mitigating crises, and managing contingencies
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Partner together to provide 24/7 emergency access, consultation, and threat analysis
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NEWS FOR YOU
IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!
Tis the season for church cantatas, pageants, and extra services. For most churches, that means a full house with unrecognizable faces during potential inclement weather. Every time a service comes together, there are safety concerns: Health issues, mental health problems, accidents, child safety, relationship conflicts, custody issues, fire/flooding/weather issues, etc. I ask the following questions not to depress you, but to bring the situations to mind and make you think about preparing. Here are ten to get you started: ~ Do we have an emergency response plan that addresses weather, medical, fire, and mechanical failures? ~ Do we have an emergency response plan that can help prepare us for a violent event and other victimization incidents? ~ Has our team been trained to deal with conflict without using physical force or weapons? ~ Have we conducted an assessment to identify what areas of our ministry are most vulnerable? ~ Have we formed, trained, and equipped a safety team to handle emergencies that would include: evacuations, lockdowns, lockouts, first aid, and communication? ~ Does our team maintain certification training in CPR, basic First Aid, and AED? ~ Do we regularly conduct drills and exercises to practice what we intend to do during and after a crisis? ~ Have we implemented security monitoring equipment (i.e. cameras, alarms, intercoms, etc.) to help ensure the safety and communication of our members? ~ Does our team have primary and secondary means to communicate during emergencies in order to manage crowd movement (i.e. radios, intercoms, alarms, etc.)? ~ Do we regularly communicate with our congregation about what to do in the event of an emergency? ~ Do they know when and how to evacuate and where to rally together? Have we planned for the disabled and nursery? Check out our classes on Church Safety and Risk Management for further discussions, practices, and collaboration. |
TIPS & ADVICE
BEWARE OF THE SEASONAL SHOPPING SCAMS
Scammers love the holiday season, unfortunately, its not for the celebration of Christ but to steal from you. The two most common scams are non-delivery and non-payment crimes so be prudent.
Non-delivery scam - a buyer pays for goods or services they find online, but never receives them.
Non-payment scam - a seller provides promised goods or services, but never gets paid in return.
The runner-ups are auction frauds, where a product is misrepresented on an auction site, and gift card frauds, when a seller asks you to pay with a pre-paid card.
So here some short but sweet, straight to the point tips to help expose scammers during the holiday season and beyond:
Scammers love the holiday season, unfortunately, its not for the celebration of Christ but to steal from you. The two most common scams are non-delivery and non-payment crimes so be prudent.
Non-delivery scam - a buyer pays for goods or services they find online, but never receives them.
Non-payment scam - a seller provides promised goods or services, but never gets paid in return.
The runner-ups are auction frauds, where a product is misrepresented on an auction site, and gift card frauds, when a seller asks you to pay with a pre-paid card.
So here some short but sweet, straight to the point tips to help expose scammers during the holiday season and beyond:
- Secure all financial accounts with strong passwords or passphrases. We’ve always recommended using different passwords for each financial account, as well as multifactor authentication, whenever available.
- Buy directly from secure and reputable websites. Avoid unfamiliar sites, especially if they’re offering unrealistic discounts on brand-name merchandise.
- Before making a purchase, verify the legitimacy of buyers or sellers. If you’re using an online marketplace or auction website, check those feedback ratings. Be wary of any buyers and sellers with lots of unfavorable ratings or no ratings at all.
- Credit cards provide several layers of security against fraud and are typically the safest way to conduct online shopping. Some companies even provide single use numbers for online shopping.
- Avoid sellers and websites that demand payment fully through gift cards — that’s a major red flag for fraud.
HOW CRACK-ABLE ARE YOU?
Brute-force hacking can crack an eight-character password in less than one hour, according to Hive Systems.
In a recently published research article, the security news firm says any password with less than seven characters can be brute-forced "INSTANTLY". Its findings show how more accessible and affordable cloud computing services make it simpler to crack passwords than two years ago, when the company showed that a relatively strong, eight-character password was crackable in eight hours.
While password managers are the best bet for protecting passwords, research also showed that a 12-character password created by a password manager could take some 3,000 YEARS to brute-force crack. Check out this password table of its findings on password-character combinations and their vulnerabilities to brute-force hacks.
Brute-force hacking can crack an eight-character password in less than one hour, according to Hive Systems.
In a recently published research article, the security news firm says any password with less than seven characters can be brute-forced "INSTANTLY". Its findings show how more accessible and affordable cloud computing services make it simpler to crack passwords than two years ago, when the company showed that a relatively strong, eight-character password was crackable in eight hours.
While password managers are the best bet for protecting passwords, research also showed that a 12-character password created by a password manager could take some 3,000 YEARS to brute-force crack. Check out this password table of its findings on password-character combinations and their vulnerabilities to brute-force hacks.
