The Top 5 Cybersecurity Threats to Churches (and How to Stop Them)

“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”

- 1 Corinthians 4:2 NIV

Introduction:

Your church is a place of trust and community. You work hard to protect your members and your ministry. But in today’s digital world, some of the biggest dangers are the ones you can’t see.

Cybercriminals, or bad actors online, see churches as easy targets. They know you store sensitive information like member names, addresses, and financial giving records.

Protecting this data isn’t just a tech issue—it’s a matter of good stewardship. Here are the top five threats your church faces and the simple steps you can take to stop them.

With that said, here are 5 threats churches face and how to stop them! 👊

1. Phishing Scams

The Threat: A staff member gets an email that looks like it’s from the senior pastor. The email says he’s in a meeting and needs someone to buy gift cards for a special event right away. It feels urgent, so the staff member acts quickly. But the email was a trick, and the money is gone. This is called phishing.

The Solution: Train your team to be cautious. Teach them to look for red flags like urgent requests for money or links that seem strange. A great defense is a service that includes DNS filtering. Think of it as a security guard for your internet that blocks your computer from visiting known dangerous websites, even if someone clicks on a bad link by mistake.

2. Ransomware Attacks

The Threat: A volunteer clicks on an email attachment that looks like an invoice. Suddenly, a message pops up on the screen. All of the church’s files—sermon notes, budgets, and the member database—are locked. The message demands thousands of dollars to get them back.

The Solution: The best way to defeat ransomware is with good backups. A backup is a safe, extra copy of all your important data. If your files are locked, you don’t have to pay the criminals. You can simply restore your information from your backup. An automated cloud backup service ensures you always have a recent, secure copy of your data ready to go.

3. Weak and Stolen Passwords

The Threat: Many people use simple, easy-to-guess passwords like “Password123” for multiple accounts. If a hacker guesses just one weak password, they can get into your church’s email, social media, or even your financial accounts.

The Solution: Every account should have its own long, unique password. It’s also vital to use multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA is like a second lock on your account. After you type your password, it sends a code to your phone to prove it’s really you. This simple step can stop most hackers in their tracks.

4. Unauthorized Access to Financial Data

The Threat: Your church handles sensitive financial information, from online giving to bank accounts. A cybercriminal could get into your system and redirect donations or steal banking details, causing a huge financial and reputational crisis.

The Solution: Always use trusted, secure platforms for online giving. Another key defense is encryption. Encryption is a way of scrambling your data so that it’s unreadable to anyone who doesn’t have the key. This means even if a hacker gets in, your sensitive financial information remains safe and private.

5. Outdated Software

The Threat: Your church computers have a lot of different software. When you don’t install updates, you leave small security holes open. Hackers know how to find these holes and use them to sneak into your network.

The Solution: Keeping every program on every computer updated is critical. This can be a lot to manage, which is why an automated maintenance service is so helpful. It works in the background to install all the important security patches for you, closing those digital holes before they can be used against you.

Simple Security for Your Ministry

These threats are serious, but you don’t have to face them alone. Systems Shepherd provides all these layers of defense in one simple, affordable service. We handle the backups, updates, and advanced security so you can focus on your ministry with confidence and peace of mind.

Click here to learn how Systems Shepherd can protect your church's computer!