UM Insight Graph
No Changed Passwords
Respondents to a June 17 to 26 straw poll by United Methodist Insight showed that congregations often are lax in their computer security – a fact that could make them vulnerable to increasing cyberattacks such as the “WannaCry” ransomware that locked up computers worldwide in May.
Insight posed a series of questions to both readers and members of the Professional Administrators of the United Methodist Connection (PAUMCS), an association for church secretaries and administrators. The results showed:
- Most respondents’ congregations have 1 to 5 computers.
- Churches protect their computers with passwords, but they don’t change them frequently.
- Almost half of the respondents (45 percent) employ an outside vendor or professional service company to install and maintain their computers.
- All respondents except 1 said the church computer is equipped with security software.
- The church secretary or an outside firm have primary responsibilities for keeping the security software updated.
- Nearly 60 percent of respondents said their church computers had evaded malware, while 85 percent avoided the WannaCry ransomware virus.
UM Insight Graph
Computer Maintenance
The last question – “How did you clean the malware off your computer if you were infected?” – found that in most cases, churches had to get professional help to restore their computers. Some excerpts from the responses:
- “Tried software fix but then had to get new hardware and start over.”
- “Virus was prior to our professional monitoring service, but a professional helped clean the system.”
- “The outside company that maintains them took care of it and put in a better firewall and backup server.”
- “We had to wipe the computer clean and start over.”
- “Had to replace the computer.”
Based on this brief, unscientific survey, the cybersecurity word to churches is: Change your passwords!
Special thanks to PAUMCS for sending its members an invitation to the survey on Insight's behalf.