Do we need fences and guards on our data as well as our physical perimeter

After the fences and the guards, the CCTV upgrades and all the other “High Vis” security measures that Jewish community & Holocaust education related organisations have had to upgrade or put in place, we have to now also put the right protections in place for Jewish community data.

There has been a significant increase in cyberattacks targeting Jewish community organisations in the last couple of years, particularly since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Reports from cybersecurity firms and Jewish community security organisations highlight this sharp rise:

• Massive Surge in 2023: The number of malicious HTTP requests targeting Jewish and Holocaust educational and memorial websites surged by 872% in 2023 compared to 2022, with most of this activity occurring after October 7. (Source: Cloudflare)
• Continued High Levels in 2024 and 2025: Cyberattacks remained elevated into 2024 and 2025. The number of blocked requests in 2024 (over 47 million) represented a 30% increase over the already-surged 2023 figures. In the first half of 2025, while overall incident numbers slightly decreased from the 2024 peak, they remained significantly higher than pre-October 2023 levels.
• Online Antisemitism as a Driver: This increase in cyber incidents mirrors a broader, record-high surge in general antisemitic incidents and online hate. The digital world often reflects real-world tensions, and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has fuelled much of this online activity.
• Specific Targeting: The attacks include Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, bot and application attacks, and attempts at cyber-espionage to obtain financial records and internal communications. Synagogues and educational institutions are specific, identifiable targets that have seen a notable increase in online threats and abuse.
• In response to this heightened threat landscape, U.S. and UK authorities, including the FBI, have warned Jewish community entities to be vigilant and have increased security coordination with community security organisations like the Community Security Trust (CST) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

With this in mind now is the time to review Cyber Security measures:

• Ensure all data is backed up with versioned immutable backups, including cloud based data, such as Microsoft 365, Xero accounting or any other cloud storage
• Do not use the same password for everything, Do not put your passwords on a post it note on your monitor, use a password manager.
• Ensure all staff, volunteers and trustees use only centrally managed email accounts with suitable security measures, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
• Ensure Multi Factor Authentication is enforced for anything you have to log into
• Ensure when you are finished with a cloud based log in that you log out before closing your web browser, this can prevent cyber attackers from bypassing multi factor authentication
• Ensure all your Servers, PC’s and Laptops are kept up to date and patched, make sure to regularly reboot or shut down your PC so it can apply updates and is not left logged in
• Protect your website using Cloudflare to anonymise the ip address it is hosted at, Cloudflare are a content mitigation provider that allows legitimate web traffic through to your website but blocks malicious or targeted attacks, much like the iron dome
• These are of course not an exhaustive list of recommendations and if you have not performed a Cyber Security review within the last 12 to 24 months you should reach out to your IT professional who maintains your systems and ask them to do one.  This advice is of course not just for Jewish Communal organisations but any business, charity or school.

If you would like more in depth advice or are worried about your Cyber Security to Data protection, please feel free to contact us via https://fc4.co.uk/contact-us/