4 Important Cybersecurity Tips for Your Church

Every day, hackers and criminals become more sophisticated in the way that they target their victims. Phishing, ransomware, and network penetration are just a few of the ways criminals can attack your ministry and compromise the integrity of your devices. It’s important that you take cybersecurity just as seriously as you take physical security and we’ve got some tips that may help you protect your ministry from cybercriminals.

Use Secure Passphrases
You’ve surely used passwords for years, but as cyber-attacks have grown more sophisticated, they’ve become increasingly less secure. Consider using passphrases instead for all current and future accounts.

Passphrases are both more secure and not too hard to remember. For example, a password like “S4nfr4n” may be easy to remember and seem secure, but it only takes 639 milliseconds to crack. For comparison, “p%9y#k&yFm?” would take approximately 90,182,663 centuries to crack, but it’s incredibly difficult to remember.

Alternatively, the passphrase “logic finite eager ratio” would take approximately 189,658,722 centuries to crack and it is easier to remember than the previous example.

Not every website or app allows for passphrases this long, or they may have certain character requirements like “!@#$?,” but this should be enough to get you thinking about changing from passwords to passphrases to help keep your church devices more secure.

To learn more about passphrases, visit useapassphrase.com.

Use Multi-Factor Authentication
If you’re unfamiliar, multi-factor authentication can add an extra layer of security to your accounts. By requiring a code being sent to your phone, or the use of an authenticator app, you make it more difficult for someone who already has your password/passphrase to access your accounts.

It is a good idea to enable multi-factor authentication for all your accounts to reduce the chances of someone successfully breaching them.

Encrypt and Backup Your Data
Encrypting your data helps prevent it from being accessed by a third party. Important church and financial documents, addresses, and information about your congregation should always be encrypted to help prevent it from getting into the wrong hands.

In addition to encrypting your data, be sure you’re backing it up regularly – either to the cloud or on-site – to help prevent the loss of data. Fires, floods, and theft are just a few of the ways your data can be lost.

Implement Cyber Safety Rules
By taking the information provided above, and continuing your own research into cyber protection, you should be able to create a comprehensive set of rules for everyone to follow with regards to cybersecurity. Distribute the rules and consider hiring an outside company to perform penetration testing to assess your ministry’s cyber security.

We hope that these tips will help you avoid being the victim of a cyberattack, but in case you are attacked, make sure your ministry is protected with appropriate cyber insurance. You can contact us today to find out if your current insurance is adequate or request a free quote to obtain appropriate coverage.