Brian Halley
IT Director
Information Technology
The biggest change for the office these five years has been the move to fiber for the internet. This has enabled us to provide more online support to our churches and schools. We have also been able to do more online meetings through Zoom.
Network Security is a priority at the conference. Ransomware attacks are happening more and more frequently. We have a multi-tier strategy in place to help prevent attacks from reaching into the network. This includes but is not limited to multiple firewalls, a comprehensive antivirus and malware suite, and in web browser filtering that blocks most advertising, scripting, and third-party links. By use of these multiple tiers, if one of the tiers has a vulnerability due to a manufacturer or software issue that requires a patch, the other tiers prevent it from being a serious threat as the other tiers are still in full effect.
There is also regular training with the staff on recognizing scam and phishing emails. This is the primary avenue that attacks come through. Malformed advertising known as malvertising is another avenue attacks can come through. These can occur even on legitimate websites when a bad actor buys advertising and slips in the dangerous ad. With the in-browser filtering we use, these are blocked from even appearing.
Data is backed up continually and regular verification of the data occurs to ensure the integrity of the backups. Ransomware attacks are becoming very smart in that they are deleting backups and/or encrypting backups before they encrypt the live data. With making regular checks of the backup data, it helps catch and prevent the possibility of an attack.
Auditing
The audits are ongoing in the Gulf States Conference with the conference being in compliance with the General Conference (GC) policy of all churches and schools being audited at least once every two years. We continue to audit all our organizations on a yearly basis. This helps in detecting issues and helps treasurers with their work.
Future Plans
Future plans include increasing IT support for the field. We have many treasurers backing up their data to the conference. We will continue to increase the number of treasurers who are doing this. There is a new web-based treasury software coming from the North American Division (NAD). As soon as this is made available we will conduct training and transition the treasurers who wish to move to the new platform.