Are you really ready for 2015?

Transcription

Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com
Managing Editor
Kevin Cross - kevin@ccmag.com
Applying Tomorrow’s Technology to Today’s Ministry
Volume 27
January 2015
No. 1
Contributing Editors
Yvon Prehn
Nick Nicholaou
Kevin A. Purcell
Russ McGuire
Michael L White
4 cover story
Are you really ready for
2015? You should be!
3
Copy Editors
Gina Hewitt
Magen Cross
By Steve Hewitt
Corporate Home Office
Editorial
Mailing address:
“What’s Hot” is Back!
8
11
Ministry Leadership
Is Your Children’s Ministry at Risk? By Steve Hewitt
Phone: (816) 550-8082
© Copyright 2015
Christian Digital Publishers, Inc.
By Michael Jordan
Protected with Purpose
All Rights Reserved
Harvesting Stone Crabs and Email Addresses: Ingenious vs. Infiltraion By Steven Sundermeier
14 Church Windows Software
Christian Computing® is a registered trademark
Time to make the IRS happy: Employee & Health Insurance Taxes
of Christian Digital Publishers, Inc. Written ma-
By Craig Chadwell
Higher Power With Kevin
22
Digital Evangelism
The Next Revolution
26 Ministry Communication
this publication may not be copied in any way,
shape or form without the express permission of
Christian Digital Publishers, Inc. Views expressed
By Russ McGuire
in the articles and reviews printed within are not
Four Necessary Things to do with Your Website to Make it Ministry Effective
By Yvon Prehn
All Data is Vulnerable
zine reserves the right to make any changes to manecessary for editorial purposes. The content of
By Michael White
The Intelligence Revolution for Churches (Part 2)
sarily be returned. Christian Computing® Magaterials submitted for publication that are deemed
A New Resolve
28 Nick At Church
zine become the property of Christian Digital
Publishers, Inc. upon receipt and may not neces-
By Kevin A. Purcell
Would You Subscribe to Bible Software or Church Software?
20
terials submitted to Christian Computing® Maga-
16
27212 E 307th Street
Harrisonville, MO 64701
By Nick Nicholaou
necessarily the views of the editor, publisher, or
employees of Christian Computing® Magazine,
or Christian Digital Publishers, Inc.
Articles that are highlighed are provided
by our partners
www.ccmag.com/2007_03/2007_03editorial.pdf
Christian Computing® Magazine
January 2015
2
editorial
“What’s Hot” is Back!
When I used to do the Prime Time America
show (Moody Broadcasting) I was on every week for about 15 minutes, normally on
Wednesdays. I would present items concerning
technology that were in the news. Of course
there are dozens of announcements concerning
technology every day, but I would pick out the
ones that I felt would impact all of us down the
road. And, I would normally pick an item that I
found entertaining! I was on Prime Time America for 15 years, until Moody decided to retire
the program.
Over those years, listeners would ask me
to send them an email with the subjects I had
talked about, and we developed a special mailing once a month that shared my “What’s Hot”
items in email form. However, when the radio
show ended, we stopped providing the email
shortly afterward.
We have decided to bring it back! Readers still ask about it, and, whenever I am asked
to speak at a conference or convention, I am
always requested to do a session on “What’s
Hot”.
You may have noticed a special email from
us earlier this month with our first edition of
“What’s Hot” in 2015. Watch for a new post,
one each month, as I seek to keep us with all of
the technology news and pick out the key stories I think you will like to hear about!
Some years technology news is slow, but so
far, 2015 looks to be an exciting year as new
products, services and technology advances impact our lives! Hope you enjoy the new emails!
Together We Serve Him,
Steve Hewitt
steve@ccmag.com
January 2015
3
cover story
Are you really
ready for 2015?
You should be!
“It is not a matter of IF someone
will cyber-attack the U.S., but when!”
O
By Steve Hewitt
ver the years, I haven’t made too much of a fuss about security.
When the Internet became a part of everyday life and Church
Management Software companies entered the cloud, I thought it
was a good move. I still do. But many were concerned (by many I mean my
good friend Nick Nicholaou) that the Internet was not secure enough, and
parts of the Internet could go down, keeping a church from their data. I am
still not overly concerned about this either. But, I am gravely concerned that
our dependence on technology in 2015 may cause us harm… in a big way.
For over 26 years I have published Christian
Computing Magazine and have been a big techno
evangelist…even when many Christian evangelists
and authors were preaching that the Y2K bug (if
you don’t know what that is, look it up) was going
to knock us back into the Stone Age. Some called it
the “apocalypse,” while others speculated the damage would be so great that it could be the beginning
of the tribulation. If you read CCMag back in those
days, you will know that I didn’t think there would
be any major problems. I stated that, at most, it
would be a small bump in the road, and local problems would be fixed quickly. 1998 and 1999 were
difficult years for us at CCMag, since our stand was
different from most of the major televangelists and
national Christian radio hosts. However, I have simply always believed that technology concerns have
always been exaggerated and that technology could,
for the most part, take care of itself.
While I am not seeking to cause a panic, or raise
January 2015
4
unwarranted concerns, I believe 2014
has taught us that we need to be a bit
concerned, and maybe even prepared,
for some technology problems in 2015.
Let me explain.
In 2014, several malware attacks,
some deemed catastrophic, were released on web servers and traffic, such
as Heartbleed and Shellshock. These
attacks allowed attackers to access the
data from millions of computers and
snatch sensitive data from servers that
appear to be secure, without leaving a
trace. No one knows the full extent of
the damage, or how we will pay for this
breach of security.
JP Morgan Chase was hacked in
August of 2014, with over 83 million
homes and businesses being affected.
This was about 65% of all households.
That was followed by a similar breach
in Sept of 2014, when Home Depot was
hacked resulting in 56 million credit
cards and debit cards compromised JP
Morgan Chase in August of 2014, with
over 83 million homes and businesses
being affected. This was about 65% of
all households. Starbucks, P.F. Chang,
Domino’s Pizza, E-bay, Target, Neiman
Marcus, Michaels, UPS, Dairy Queen,
and many others added to the growing
problem. 41% of Americans had to get
new debit or credit cards. The cost to
individuals equaled $3.4 billion, and the
cost to retailers was $1.9 billion. (CNN
Money Reports)
In November of 2014, Sony was attacked via cyber terrorism. Emails were
stolen and revealed to the public, as well
as movies and other company information.
Apple’s cloud took a hit when
hundreds of images meant to be private,
were stolen and tweeted. This wasn’t a
security problem for Apple, but rather an
example of how criminals can hack into
your info services if you have sloppy
passwords.
USIS, which conducts background
checks for the U.S. Homeland Security,
hacked. And, in fact, many government
Check-in just
went mobile!
ELEXIO.COM | @ELEXIOBUZZ | 888-997-9947
January 2015
5
agencies have suffered some level of hacking and
breach of data security, including:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Office of the Texas, Attorney General
California Department of Child Support Services
Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles
Florida Department of Juvenile Justice
Virginia Department of Health
U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. National Guard
The point I am trying to make is that 2014 was
a very busy year for hackers! I am sure most can
think of something missing from this list. Frankly it
is almost impossible, and potentially very boring, to
comprise of list of everything and everyone that got
hit last year.
However, while all of this is costly, it is maybe,
just maybe, the tip of the iceberg! I believe we don’t
have a clue at all of the cyber hacking and the data
wars that are going on between our government and
others. And, things are just getting started. Did you
hear the reports that North Korea has been preparing
for over a dozen years for cyber war?
In 2009, we established a Cyber Command, with
the stated objectives being the “defense of specified
Department of Defense information networks”. This
was established because the US was already receiving a host of cyber-attacks on our nation, mostly
rumored to be coming from China. Due to the information leaked by U.S. National Security Agency
contractor Edward Snowden, we now know that
the United States has been an active player in cyber
war, using some of the technology firms right here
in America (many without their knowledge) to help
spread security holes allowing for cyber spying and
gathering of information. Did you know that after
the Snowden leaks, China banned the use of Windows 8 and Office 365 from all government computers, due to their concerns over security? (Tech
Times, July 2, 2014) Did you know we established
October 2014 as “National Cyber Security Awareness Month”?
In October of 2014, Pew Research selected 1,642
experts and Internet builders and canvassed them
with this question, “By 2025, will a major cyberattack have caused widespread harm to a nation’s
security and capacity to defend itself and its people?
(By “widespread harm,” we mean significant loss of
life or property losses/damage/theft at the levels of
January 2015
6
tens of billions of dollars.)” 61% said yes, that a major attack will occur.
According to an article written by Joel Brenner,
a former senior counsel of the National Security
Agency (Oct 24, 2014), “Chinese penetrations of
networks at the U.S. military’s Transportation Command have been widely reported, for example, and
every expert I know believes our electricity grid has
been penetrated by Russia and China. Our military
correctly assumes these penetrations would enable
future attacks and disruptions. This is why the Pentagon announced this week that it’s pushing the construction of its own power grids at bases around the
country. It knows that in times of conflict and stress,
faith in the grid would be misplaced. “
I could go on and on, sharing articles and quotes
from experts, all saying that there is a new threat
to our country, to our cities, other than hurricanes,
tornados and earthquakes. A cyber-attack, even if not
national, could threaten to do a lot of damage to any
of our major cities. Imagine, if you will, what your
city would be like if the Internet was down for just
three days? The electricity would be gone, ATM’s
and banks would have to close. Grocery stores
would soon run out of food EVEN if only providing
food for those that could pay in cash. You couldn’t
purchase anything with a credit or debit card, and
soon gas pumps would go dry, and
most communications and transportation would come to a stop. We
have become VERY dependent on
the Internet.
Many experts in technology
and/or national security state that
cyber-war is here to stay, and it is
not a matter of if, but when, we
will suffer a serious attack here in
the USA. In light of the activity we
have seen in 2014, it is clear that
we as a nation are not very secure,
either in the private or government
areas.
I am assuming that most individuals have some sort of disaster
preparation set up for emergencies.
I think we need to educate people
to not only have drinking water
and a good flashlight in case of a
storm, but back up cash and a plan
if the Internet were to go down. Or
even if something less catastrophic
happens, such as a cyber-attack on our banks, putting
them out of action for a few days, people need to
have a plan.
Does your church have a plan to communicate a
message to your congregation if normal communications go down? More and more of our congregations
are moving to VOIP and cell phones, both much
more vulnerable to attack than our old land line
phone systems. Do you have a disaster plan for cyber-attacks in your community, town or city? I think
2015 might be the year to add this to your agenda.
I recently was talking to a person that I consider an expert in the area of Church Management
Software (ChMS) and he shared that 25% of ALL
of America has their personal data held in a ChMS
database. Now that we have retained financial information concerning our membership, we need to be
prepared to upgrade our security. Luckily, our data
is scattered, held by as many as 300,000 different
congregations, thereby very difficult to target as a
group. However, as cyber security moves down the
chain, smaller targets will be hit, and churches need
to be prepared.
Are you ready for 2015? I know we are making
some changes in our household this year. I hope you
do as well.
January 2015
7
ministry leadership
Is Your Children’s
Ministry at Risk?
By: Michael Jordan
S
afety. This is one word that is paramount to everyone. Safety at
home, safety at school, safety on the road. However, how often do
you think about safety while at church? If you don’t, you should.
Today, we hear news reports of missing children, public shootings, fires
claiming the lives of families or severe weather damaging an entire town.
We make the necessary preparation to protect
our homes, we go to meetings to ensure our schools
have safety programs in place, but do we invest the
time to make sure our churches are safe and secure,
especially when it comes to our children? Churches
are subject to these occurrences just like any other
place. Church leaders and members should ask this
question: Is our church at risk and do we have the
procedures in place to handle an incident if it occurs?
According to the authors of the ministry guide
“Is Your Children’s Ministry at Risk?,” the church
is meant to be a place of love and security - a place
of safety in the time of need. Many of unfortunate
incidents could have been prevented.
“We can say that we’re adults and we can
handle a situation when it presents itself, but what
about the children who we care for? With a few
precautions, changes in operations and training of
staff and volunteers, most incidents can be averted.
It’s time for the church to perform a risk assessment and put in place policies that will create a safe
haven for worship and ministry,” said the authors
of “Is Your Children’s Ministry at Risk?”.
A recent Barna Group study1 of pastors highlighted some areas of concern, outlined in this
excerpt of its report:
“The study shows that many churches struggle
with screening children and youth workers, partly
because they do not have the appropriate practices
January 2015
8
and procedures in place to anticipate and deal with
diverse types of risk. For instance, one-third of
pastors said their church has no formal risk management process in place, and just 38 percent of all
churches gave their organization high marks on this
factor. About three out of 10 pastors indicated their
church has a risk management process in place, but
the pastor is less than fully satisfied with that process. Fewer than half of pastors said their church
‘specifically and regularly evaluates safety and
security issues affecting the church’ (39 percent)
and only one-quarter said their church ‘thoroughly
communicates with attendees about safety and
security issues’ (28 percent).”
“The Barna Group study also outlines some
troubling gaps in the area of fire preparedness.
Their study found only two percent of Protestant
churches having conducted a fire drill in the last
month. That number would never be accepted in
schools, and most schools don’t use fire in their
day-to-day activities. But, nearly 25 percent of
churches use some form of fire, most often candles,
in services every month, with nearly 75 percent using open flames every year,” said the authors of “Is
Your Children’s Ministry at Risk?”. “And the risk
from fire is real; in the last several years, hundreds
of churches have been damaged by fires, whether
they were caused by neglect or set deliberately.
Your church should be prepared.”
Facts You Need to Know:
• According to the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and
Thrownaway Children (NISMART), more
than 350,000 family abductions occur in the
U.S. each year. This amounts to approximately 1,000 family abductions per day.
• According to The Christian Post, there were
at least 1,237 crimes committed against
Christian churches and ministries in the
U.S. in 2009 (most recent data). These incidents ranged in severity from vandalism to
violent crimes.
• According to the National Fire Protection
Association, fire departments attend more
than 1.3 million fires each year. Of these,
thousands occur at worship centers, causing
millions of dollars in damage.
Know Your Risk Level
“As families enter your ministry, they expect
to find a sanctuary that provides a haven of protection, both spiritually and physically, from the rest
of the world. All week they hear about terrorism,
natural disasters, fires and crime. They don’t need
to come to church worrying over their safety while
attending services,” said the authors of “Is Your
Children’s Ministry at Risk?”. “Moms and Dads
should not have to worry about whether their child
is safe and secure while they’re trying to worship.
The more you can assure families that your church
is a safe place, the better off each of your ministry
areas, from children’s programs to adult classes,
will be.”
It is recommended by security experts that you
perform a risk assessment of your church facility
first, then assess your ministry areas, starting with
your children.
“Children are a heritage from the Lord,” (Psalm
127:3) and we should ensure they have the safest
environment your church can provide. Once you
have a policy in place for children’s safety and security, you can adapt the policies to other ministries
of your church.
To get started with this process, there are four
key areas you should review for your church.
They include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Emergency evacuation
Shelter in place or Church lockdown
Medical emergencies
Lost/Missing children
You can’t afford to leave any doubt in parents’
minds when it comes to the safety of their children
in the event of an emergency. Make sure all workers are aware of their responsibilities so they can
spring into action if the need arises. Remember,
information is power. Know how to get your hands
on that vital information and distribute it to the
right people in a timely manner.
Technology Can Help You Succeed
Using relatively inexpensive technology,
churches have the opportunity to provide an added
degree of security and safety to their ministries.
These ministries can benefit from replacing old,
paper-based processes vulnerable to human error
with electronic solutions that can drastically minimize judgment calls.
“Imagine being able to generate actual attendance rosters for each class meeting during a
January 2015
9
service – and imagine the comfort
of knowing you can use these
same rosters for emergency lists if
an evacuation is needed. What if
you knew you had a quick look-up
feature for finding the location of
a child or parent in case an incident occurs?,” said the authors of
“Is Your Children’s Ministry at
Risk?”. “These are just a couple
of the benefits that a software security check-in system can provide
for your staff and volunteers.”
Be Prepared
Everyone knows we live in a
dangerous world. But, the church
of all places, should be a sanctuary
from the day-to-day worries we
find ourselves thinking about very
often. That’s why it’s so essential
to protect the entire church, but
especially, the children’s ministry,
from danger. That’s why you need
to download “Is Your Children’s
Ministry at Risk?” today to learn
more about how to keep your children, and entire congregation, safe.
Let Us Help Your Congregation
Stay Safe
ACS Technologies can help
you assess issues and better safeguard your ministry.
Whether you’ve already implemented a safety strategy or need
help getting your efforts up and
running, we can help.
To learn more about ministry
safety, download “Is Your Children’s Ministry at Risk?” today.
You can also learn more by
visiting www.acstechnologies.com.
1 Many Churches Neglect to Screen
Those Working with Children and Youth:
The Barna Group, www.barna.org.
January 2015
10
protected with purpose
Harvesting Stone Crabs
and Email Addresses
Ingenious vs. Infiltration
By: Steven Sundermeier
W
hen you live in a cold-winter state like Ohio, there is nothing
better than having relatives (parents, siblings, etc) in a
warmer climate. And for my wife and kids and I, it’s an
awesome winter change-up to spend part of Christmas break in Florida
with family. While the options for Florida activities fluctuate each
year with the ages and interest of our kids, one thing (at least for me!)
remains constant: saltwater fishing.
While in Florida last month, I was blessed by my
father-in-law who treated me to a guided fishing trip
in the back bays of the Southwest Gulf Coast. As we
boarded our fishing guide’s beautiful Bay Craft flats
boat, we noticed an unusual looking boat arriving to
the docks that we were departing from. When we
inquired about the vessel, we found out that it was
a commercial crabbing boat, used specifically for
harvesting stone crab. (Their claws are filled with
an absolute mouthwatering meat: a sweet delicacy
of SW Florida, and at $39.95 a pound they are crustacean gold.) Continuing our shouts in conversation
from one boat to the other, what I learned about the
harvesting of these crabs really astounded me.
During a 7 month season, crabbing specialists are
continually baiting traps, retrieving them and hoping for prized stone crabs. Crabs that are harvested
have to meet a few requirements: the claws must be
at least 2.75 inches and the captured crab can’t be a
pregnant female. If a crab meets these requirements,
the crabber will snap one of the claws off while leaving the other intact. The crab is then thrown back to
re-grow the lost claw (a process called molting). And
while it is currently lawful to harvest both of a stone
crab’s claws, crabbers will usually only take one
claw ensuring a plentiful harvest the next season. The
molting process requires a large amount of energy in
the form of food so leaving one claw intact gives the
crab the ability to obtain necessary food and defend
itself. Fascinating, huh?
January 2015
11
Why I tell this story:
As I have written in past columns (human
shielding techniques, etc.), church IT director’s
should already be on alert that their networks are
becoming high profile targets. Toward the end of
the 3rd quarter of 2014, we (Thirtyseven4 labs)
began to see a significant increase in cybercriminal
data harvesting. Like the crabbers in Florida, the
data harvesting, (in the form of email gathering)
our Thirtyseven4 Labs observed was very specialized and the attacks were directed at administrative
staffs of medium to large size churches. And like
the Florida crabbers “crustacean gold” value of
the claw-meat, the cybercriminals desired “catch”
(thousands of email addresses) is also priceless, because they are using that data to get at staff payroll
information and other personal data. (I wish this
was a fish-tale, but it’s not.) Cybercriminal harvesting emails addresses is on the rise and is scary
stuff!
This style of attack works in the following way:
The cybercriminal harvests the email addresses
listed on church websites. As the stone crabs have
“requirements” to be met in order for a crabber
to keep a claw, today’s cybercriminals have their
own “requirements” as well—requirements that
will best financially benefit them. If the harvested
emails appear to be from a smaller church or look
to be from volunteer workers (people likely not to
be associated with payroll) they are disregarded
for this style of campaign. These email addresses
aren’t likely tossed back but instead kept to be sold
to spammers or other criminal gangs. If the harvest email addresses appear to meet their specific
requirements, we have observed that these users are
then targeted with a phishing email. The phishing
email will appear legitimate and originating from
the church. Here’s an example:
Subject: Confirm Your Salary
Body: “Kindly verify the ATTACHED documents. Your email log in would be required to
view for approval. Thanks, [the website’s Business Manager Name].
In this case, the “ATTACHED” wording is a
hyperlink. A user tricked into clicking this link
will then get directed to a spoofed webpage. This
spoofed webpage has been maliciously crafted to
look like the organizations login screen where a
user would enter their login credentials and this
January 2015
12
information would be relayed to the attacker. Once
the attacker has the login credentials, they can then
perform untold amounts and variations of malicious
activities including re-routing direct deposit information.
The above is just one example, and the subject
line is routinely changed. Other observed subject
lines include “Salary Review Documentation” and
“2015 Salary Adjustments”.
Using an alternate technique, we’re also seeing
similar emails circulating but instead of embedded hyperlinks they contain malicious attachments.
In our samples, the attachment name altered from
“Payment Slip.zip” to “Pay Slip.zip”. Downloading and running the file within the compressed ZIP
folder results in installing a ZBot Trojan. This
Trojan’s main function is to steal information. In
this particular case any time a banking website is
opened, the Trojan intercepts the data and uploads
it to an attacker-controlled server.
If this alerts you, it should. Our labs are seeing it, and this article is to warn and inform so that
we can be better prepared as churches and business
people.
In conclusion, I offer a couple things:
1. Communicate with your staff about these
phishing emails and their topics/general
gist. Make sure they are on their guard
about clicking any hyperlinks and being
very reluctant to share any personal information without first confirming it or looking
into it with someone on staff that may have
knowledge of the request.
2. Avoid the madness by unplugging yourself
and whetting a line in Florida instead of
working yourself to the bone in Ohio (or
wherever you are today). (Trust me, it is
therapeutic and restorative!) Search for
your own elusive Ladyfish, Red, or Jack as
you bob in the ebb and flow of the tide and
are warmed by the southern sun. Life is too
short, and God did tell us to rest once in a
while. And if you get a chance to check out
the molting process of a stone crab, praise
our Creator for his supreme ingenuity and if
you can afford to, treat yourself to a supper
you won’t forget.
January 2015
13
church windows software
CHURCH WINDOWS SOFTWARE
Time to make the IRS happy
Employee & Health Insurance Taxes
By Craig Chadwell
S
o it’s not a task that anyone would put on their list of “fun
things” or “enjoyable hobbies”, rather more likely on the list
of “Ugh, do I have to?” items, but the time is here: It’s time for
employee and government wage reporting.
Whether your church uses Church Windows
Software or another package, W-2s may be often
be printed directly out of your software in black
and white on a standard laser printer (not ink jet).
Appropriate forms can be obtained at your local
office supply stores or through Dynamic Systems
(800-782-2946 or www.dswebtoprint.com). Either
one is a fine option. We have found that Dynamic
Systems will send out smaller quantities than the
packets typically available at office supply stores.
Paper copy W-2s can be submitted directly to
the Social Security Administration via US Mail.
If you prefer Electronic Filing, churches with 50
or fewer W-2s to file can use the Social Security’s
online system (provided that you have registered
online.)
If your software includes it, the Nelco Wage
Filer can submit W-2 forms electronically through
the software. The IRS will accept black and white
W-2s on paper so any typical Payroll program will
January 2015
14
print them for you and not require you to purchase
forms. But, IRS does still require 1099’s and
1096’s on their forms. So those forms need to be
purchased for your software to print. Electronic
Filing can be done through Nelco Wage Filer
within most Payroll programs. A number of states
require filing W-2s and 1099s at the same time if
there is any withholding from 1099 contractors.
Learn more about Nelco at www.nelcosolutions.
com.
Paper 1099 forms can be printed from most
good Payroll or Accounting software programs.
But please note that the “red ink” forms are required for submittal to the IRS. The
best bet on acquiring these forms is
through Dynamic Systems or an office
supply store. Libraries and post offices
also have the forms, but the paper
used for the recipients’ copy has been
known to jam printers.
Health insurance premium reimbursements are now taxable if the
employee does not participate in the
company’s group health plan. A customer question recently came in about
health insurance for employees. This
question encompassed two totally different situations.
1. If an employer gives an employee cash to purchase health
insurance, or they pay a health
insurance premium that is not
a group policy, it is fully TAXABLE. The church, in reporting, can either increase regular
wages or set up a fully taxable
allowance. It does not need to
be separately stated in Box 12
of the W-2.
2. In Payroll programs, there is
often a special function for the
non-taxable employer paid portion of GROUP health insurance. This function is present
in Church Windows Payroll.
Only employers submitting 250
or more W-2s in the prior year
are required to provide this
information but a number of
our customers want to include
this information on the W-2. This does not
increase taxable wages and it is shown in
box 12 of the W-2 with a code of DD.
While the employee wage and tax reporting
tasks are neither fun nor simple, a calm approach,
some reading preparedness, and maybe a warm
cup of decaf coffee can definitely help your path
through the tasks. Happy filing!
Churches Continue to
Choose Church Windows
For more than 25 years, the
driving force behind everything we do
at Computer Helper Publishing
has been to provide
quality, proven software -- helping
churches get and stay organized.
Save NOW on this Leader in
Church Management Software
Now thru 01/31/2015, get the standard
“Large” Church Windows
for the price of the Small version.
LEARN MORE NOW
M
em
S
be
rs
e
ch
D
hi
du
le
a
on
Ac
p
r
tio
u
co
ns
nt
Pa
in
yr
g
ol
l
www.churchwindows.com
urrchwindows.com
/churchwindows
800.533.5227
Computer Helper Publishing • PO Box 30191 • Columbus OH 43230-0191
January 2015
15
higher power with kevin
Would You Subscribe
to Bible Software or
Church Software?
Kevin A. Purcell - kevin@kevinpurcell.org
L
ate in November Bob Pritchett, the CEO and founder of Logos
Bible Software, now called Faithlife, asked a question in the
company’s online forum. Read it here: http://bit.ly/1Bkz8Pk. He
wrote a long post about the idea of subscribing to Logos and wrote,
“I’d love to get your input on what types of subscriptions Logos
could/should offer.” He reassured customers that Faithlife won’t end
the current model where customers own their software and resources.
Would you subscribe to Bible software, or other
church software like membership management or
worship presentation programs? Many already do
that with online management systems and Faithlife
offers Proclaim,
a subscriptionbased church
presentation
tool. I know
of no one
that sells
subscriptions to
Used by permission from Barta IV via Flickr Bible software.
Online Only or Online Plus Offline
Logos already offers a simplistic version of
their software in an online form at Biblica.com.
Pritchett asked if they should offer an online only
subscription service with “lots more functionality
from the desktop version” or if they should offer
the online site in addition to offline software that
a user installs on their computer.
Many people own Chromebooks that can’t
install Logos. The new breed of Windows
computers like the HP Stream 11 and 13 laptops
that only cost $200+ with only 32GB of storage
or Windows tablets with 16 or 32GB of storage
January 2015
16
would be impractical for owners of large Logos
libraries. Add the small number of Linux
computers, which can’t install Logos. A cloud
version of Logos with most or many of the features
of the installed version of Logos makes sense at
the right price.
What if Olive Tree, Biblesoft (makers of PC
Study bible) Lifeway’s WORDsearch, or e-Sword
started to offer an online version for a fee? Would
you “rent” your Bible software online or even in
an offline version?
What Books Should They
Offer
People may not know that
Faithlife already offers a limited
number of books for rent (see
which ones here: http://bit.
ly/1vnmN4T). Get some highend titles for as little as $1.19/
month on up to $49.95. What
if every title available were
available via an all-you-can-eat
model? At the right price, I’d
love that.
Some suggested in the
Logos forum discussion that the
company should offer a rent-toown model, but that’s what they
already offer with their payment
system. Buyers can get Logos
books for a one-time price or pay
a monthly fee plus a $5/month
processing fee. After a few
months to two years, they own
the books outright.
Instead, it makes more sense
to offer everything they sell for a
large fee for those with plenty of
money to burn. Then offer tiered
models based on how people use
Logos. Give people a Christian
Library focused on lay people
that includes some Bibles, a few
study tools that don’t require
any language skills, and access
to some books that appeal to lay
people from their Vyrso library.
Other subscription levels
that Bible software companies
might offer would include those
for scholars, pastors, libraries focused on specific
denominations, youth workers, music ministers,
missionaries, translators, and more.
Finally, I’d hope that a subscription model
could offer an a la carte model. Let me pick the
books I want and charge based on the number and
kind of books I select.
Not all books make sense as rentals. I don’t
want to rent my favorite Bible translations, but I
might want to rent a collection of commentaries on
the book of Romans while I’m preaching through
that book for a year. I want to own my favorite
You want the
freedom to
… reach out
… minister to people
… create fellowship
… contribute to
your community
PowerChurch Plus was
created for just that!
Membership
Accounting
Contributions
Events
Calendar
We provide you with the tools to
increase administrative efficiency
and streamline accounting tasks,
freeing you up to perform the work
that matters.
Install on your PC or network, or access online.
Choose which fits your needs.
Check In
Completely
Integrated
We provide software tools,
freeing you up to fulfill your mission.
www.PowerChurch.com • 800.486.1800
3&6&KXUFK([HFXWLYHB[LQGG
17
$0
January 2015
EASY
CHURCH WEBSITES
FROM
Now your church can have a beautiful and welcoming
website that is simple to maintain with
Easy Church Websites from American Church.
X ENGAGE current members
X EDUCATE everyone about the faith
X ATTRACT visitors to your church
X WELCOME newcomers and returning members
CALL FOR A FREE DEMO: 800-446-3035 Ext. 6880
Bible dictionary, but I’d rent a book on preaching
while I’m reading it. I won’t read it again after I’m
done, so why not rent it for a month?
What’s the Right Price?
What’s the right price to charge? An all-youcan-eat model would have to be expensive for
Logos to make money, but many of us don’t need
all the works they offer. I’m not going to read 19th
century fiction love stories but others won’t want
leadership books or language study tools.
Logos already offers base collections starting
at $250 or $25.89/month for 12 months. Their
largest library costs nearly $10,000 or almost
$400/month for 24 months.
After one or two years, the person who
buys via a payment plan owns the books and
pays nothing more. So how much would the
company have to lower the monthly fee to make a
subscription model work?
Logos already offers the Understanding the
Bible Commentary Series for $500 or $46.66/
month for 12 months. They’ll rent the commentary
series for $22.95/month. That’s about half the price
of the monthly payment.
Going by that model, the Collector’s Edition
mentioned previously might go for $200/month as
a rental. That seems like a bargain, but realize that
after four years, the subscriber will pay more than
they would if they bought it and paid the $387/
month for the 24 month payment plan.
I think the price would need to be much lower
to make it worthwhile. $100/month for a huge
collection would make it more appealing. Much
more, and I don’t think many would pay.
Who Can Use the Library?
The last question is who can use the library.
Currently, Logos lets me use my library on as
many devices as I own and doesn’t police this.
Families can use the library as long as they’re not
using it at the same time.
However, Bob Pritchett also asked whether
it might make sense to offer a subscription for
groups. He wrote:
Would a subscription be more valuable if
it could be shared? What if a pastor bought a
large subscription, but as a side effect everyone
in that church (or on that church’s staff?) got
access to a portion of it, too? (Pastor gets
Collector’s Edition for online/offline use, whole
church gets Starter equivalent for online and
mobile use?) Would this make it more attractive
to subscribe?
That would make the subscription model
interesting.
Here’s what I’d like to see. Maybe a pastor
owns a library and reads a book that he thinks the
church should study. The Bible software company
could offer a simple subscription to the pastor to
let everyone in his church, small group, or on his
staff read that books plus a few additional titles.
For example, what if my church wanted to do a
study of John Piper’s book Finally Alive. The book
costs $13.95 from the Faithlife. If a small group of
20 people wanted to do the study, we’d have to pay
$ 279 so each person could access the book via
Logos. The study might take three months.
What if Logos or another Bible software
company offered a group subscription model? The
20 people could all install a computer or mobile
app and read the book. How much would make
it worthwhile for the small group but still cost
effective for the Bible software company? Using
January 2015
18
the Logos model of half their annual payment
eat with a feature-rich online version for less
price, the following makes sense. $279 divided
than $200/month. Add a model where I can mix
by 12 months plus $5/month for the processing
and match the books I want for a graduated cost,
fee makes the monthly payment $28.25. Since
and I’m very likely going to subscribe if offered.
Logos rents books for half that fee, the rental for
Finally, target users based on their usage and
the small group would cost about $15/month.
interests. Make it available as an installed version
Logos needs to realize that some of the 20 small
for computers and a mobile app for phones and
group members might get used to using Logos
tablets. Also make it available as a feature-rich
on their iPad or Galaxy phone and want to keep
cloud-based program for Chromebook, budget
using it as their Bible. They might want to do
Windows-PCs and Linux users.
their Sunday school lesson study on it. One of
them might be a seminary student studying for the
ministry. How much money
might the company make on
future sales or subscriptions?
It’s possible that the Bible
software company would see
get your free demo
this as a lost leader that would
www.servantpc.com/ccmag
attract further business. Instead
of charging $15/month to the
800-773-7570
church, they might charge
$4.99/month knowing they will
easily make up the other $10 in
Manage your ministry with
future sales and subscriptions.
They might even give one
book per month for a group
study to current subscribers at
Track donations, Email Statements,
a certain level. If I subscribe
Manage: Small Groups, Classes, Attendance,
to the Pastor’s library for
Visitor follow-up, Outreach and MORE!
$79.99/month, maybe that
would give me access to one
book each month for up to 25
people for free. This would
create some good will and
Keep children safe with
future business from among
the small group members. The
small group members could
Easy check-in, secure check-out,
use the app on their phone and
Syncs with Servant Keeper,
on the computer version along
Name badges w/ allergies, notes, alerts, class info.
with the other books Logos
Claim tickets for parents/guardians, run background checks
already gives away for free
when someone registers for an
account.
SOFTWARE FOR MINISTRY
ou:
y
e
r
A
Tracking Members/Donors?
Servant Keeper®!
ou:
y
e
r
A Caring for Children?
SK Check-In®!
Conclusion
I’d like to see Faithlife
begin offering subscriptions,
especially the group
subscription model for a single
book for churches. I’d also
like to see the all-you-canChristian Computing® Magazine
you:
AreLeading
Worship?
Plan worship effortlessly with
Worship Keeper®!
Keeps your song library at your fingertips,
Quickly plan and schedule services and teams
Easily track song usage and do reports
January 2015
19
digital evangelism
A New Resolve
Michael L White - mlwhite@parsonplace.com
A
t the beginning of every New Year the primary focus seems to
be upon making a New Year’s resolution. Most folks resolve to
spend less, save more, lose weight, work out in the gym, or some
other worthwhile endeavor, but what should Christians resolve to do?
That’s what I want to address in this month’s digital evangelism article.
What do you suppose is the most important goal
for Christians on God’s list of priorities? Would it
be feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, tending
the sick, visiting the imprisoned, sheltering the
homeless? I think most Christians would expect any
of these tasks to be number one, and perhaps they
do make it to the top ten, but what do you think God
would put in first place?
I suggest that evangelism is the number one
priority for God. Why? I believe it is because these
other tasks are basically futile if the recipient is not a
citizen of the Kingdom of God. After all, what lasting
good does feeding, clothing, tending, visiting, and
sheltering do for a person if his/her soul is destined
for eternity in Hell? They would simply enter Hell
with full bellies, clothed and healthy bodies, and
somewhat comforted minds. What a tragedy!
So, what can we do about that? Well, perhaps
the most important act we can do is offer the Plan
of Salvation to them as it is laid out in the Bible.
However, the decision of whether to accept that offer
is entirely up to each individual person. It’s a little
like the old adage, “You can lead a horse to water, but
you can’t make him drink.” Of course, there is one
secret you can use to get a horse to drink every time
without forcing or even urging. All you have to do
is take the horse by the salt block on the way to the
watering trough. A few minutes of licking on that salt
block would compel the horse to actually run towards
the water and drink deeply without hesitation.
How does that translate into Christian
evangelism? Well, if we who call ourselves
Christians would behave as the salt that Jesus
commanded us to be (Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:50;
January 2015
20
and Luke 14:34), then we
would succeed in transforming
disinterested people into souls
thirsting for the true water of God.
(John 4:13-14 and John 7:37-39)
So, just how do we become like
that salt, anyway?
Ah, there lies the problem! It
seems that very few Christians
even know what it means be salt
in the world, let alone how to be
salt. I am open to correction, but
as I understand it, to be salt in the
world means to do what salt does.
Salt has at least three very important qualities for us
to consider.
First, and perhaps most obviously, salt seasons
our food. Have you ever tried eating freshly cooked
vegetables or meat without any salt on them? It is
quite unpalatable! We Christians can act like salt by
seasoning the relationships and conversations we
are involved in (whether online or offline) with the
principles of God’s Word and the goodness of God’s
Spirit.
Second, and probably much lesser known
nowadays, salt is a preservative. Prior to
refrigeration, people used layers of salt to preserve
their meats from the bacteria, maggots, and other
factors which cause decomposition and disease.
Christians can act like salt in this way by preserving
the practice of the principles of God’s Word, which
will prevent the decomposition of our society.
Third, and likely just as unknown as the second
fact mentioned above, salt is a purifier. This is partly
where we get the statement, “It’s like pouring salt
into an open wound.” Aside from the severe stinging
sensation for which this statement was composed,
salt kills the bacteria that cause infection and disease.
This is closely connected with the preservation aspect
listed above, but it differs insofar as one quality
prevents decomposition while the other prevents
the spread of infection and disease. Christians can
act like salt by purifying whatever threatens the
existence of good in this world, i.e., fighting against
ideas or practices which oppose God’s principles for
living as outlined in the Bible.
When Christians sit quietly by while opposing
ideas or practices replace God’s principles or when
Christians actively participate in overturning God’s
principles, they have become like salt that has lost it
saltiness. According to Jesus, when salt has lost its
saltiness, it is good for nothing but throwing out into
the street to be trampled underfoot.
So, being salt in the world means sharing the
truth of God’s Word, but it also means living out the
principles of God’s Word to the best of our ability.
Therefore, being effective Christian evangelists
means not only offering God’s Plan of Salvation as
depicted in the Bible but demonstrating how living
by the principles of God’s Word is so much better
than living any other way.
For a detailed explanation of God’s Plan of
Salvation as found in the Bible, I recommend my
latest book, The Salvation of the LORD, available in
print and eBook formats wherever books are sold. In
it I go to great lengths to expound on the character
of God, the problem of original sin, how to live with
our sin nature after accepting Christ as our Savior,
and how to know we’re saved for eternity with Him,
among other points.
During this New Year in 2015, let’s resolve
to offer not only the Hope of Christ regarding
the salvation of one’s soul, but let’s also resolve
to support and promote the principles for living
according to God’s Word as prescribed in the Bible.
Let’s be salty Christian evangelists in both digital
venues and elsewhere. Happy New Year!
Michael L. White is the founder and Managing
Editor of Parson Place Press, an independent
Christian publishing house in Mobile, Alabama. His
book Digital Evangelism: You Can Do It, Too! is
available wherever books are sold. For a list of his
other books and articles, visit his Website at http://
books.parsonplace.com.
January 2015
21
The Next Revolution
The Intelligence
Revolution for
Churches (Part 2)
By Russ McGuire - russ.mcguire@gmail.com
O
ver the past few months I’ve introduced the Intelligence Revolution
and put it in the context of the broader Information Age. I’ve
provided a working definition (The Intelligence Revolution will
help us better understand the world around us; will improve our decision
making to enhance our health, safety, and peace of mind; and will enable
companies to better serve us based on the correlation and analysis of data
from the interrelation of people, things, and content), I’ve identified the
“power” and the “danger” of the Intelligence Revolution, and last month
I started to answer the question of what the Intelligence Revolution will
mean for each of our churches. However, last month’s column used a
specific example to demonstrate the risks we face if we are too aggressive
in collecting and correlating data about our congregants. What are the
more positive ways that large churches can consider using big data?
Revisiting the Danger
Last month I started by making the point that
most churches are too small to ever have the data or
the capabilities to fully participate in the Intelligence
Revolution. But to consider how large churches
could potentially leverage big data, I referenced an
article by Michael D. Gutzler in the Spring 2014 issue of Dialog: A Journal of Theology. In the article,
titled “Big Data and the 21st Century Church,” the
Lutheran pastor made the claim that “data collection and analysis could be the key to providing a
deeper faith life to the people of our congregational
communities.” As I introduced the approach that
Pastor Gutzler advocates, I’m guessing that many of
you became increasingly uncomfortable. His approach would correlate personal information (inJanuary 2015
22
cluding derived assumptions
about personal income) with
giving, attendance, and commitment to spiritual growth,
amongst other data points. His
goal was to identify the actions
that the church could successfully take for specific families to
draw them more deeply into the
church.
A few weeks ago, I discussed the article with a Christian friend who has been the
data scientist for a major retailer,
the chief data scientist for a big
data consultancy, and is currently the manager of data analysis
for a major web-based service.
The approach Pastor Gutzler
outlined concerned her, I think
in large part because of its reliance on personally identifiable
information (PII). Increasingly,
regulations are being crafted and
enacted to protect PII, especially
in light of the growing threat
of fraud and identity theft. The
high profile cases of credit card
data theft from retailers, e-mail
and password theft from online
sites, and the very broad theft of
information from Sony should
make it clear to all of us that
we risk the reputation of our
churches (and by extension,
Christ Himself) the more that
we collect, store, and correlate
information about people that
can be personally linked back
to them and potentially used to
their detriment. But I think she
was, as many of us were, also
concerned by the types of information being collected and the
inferences being made from it.
Would we be embarrassed if our
constituents found out about the
information we’re collecting and
how we are using it? If so, then
our actions likely aren’t bringing
glory to God.
January 2015
23
Searching for the Power
Then is there anything good that the Intelligence Revolution can do for large churches? The
answer will depend on the church, but I think
there’s some potential.
Whenever I talk to businesses about the Intelligence Revolution, I emphasize that they start first
with the mission of their business. Is there any
data that, if available, could help them to better
serve their customers in accomplishing their mission? Likewise, each of us should start with the
mission of your church. I know there are different
views on the mission of the church, so I won’t try
to lay out a comprehensive definition that all readers can agree to, but I’m guessing we all can agree
that the Great Commission is at least an important
part of the church’s mission. In their book What is
the Mission of the Church?, Kevin DeYoung and
Greg Gilbert summarized it down simply to this:
“the mission of the church - as seen in the Great
Commissions, the early church in Acts, and the
life of the apostle Paul - is to win people to Christ
and build them up in Christ.” This follows directly
from Christ’s own words in Matthew 28:18-20
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and
on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all things that I have commanded
you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end
of the age.”
If we just start with this as at least part of the
mission of the church, what data could help us in
our Gospel outreach efforts, and what data would
help us to build our people up in Christ? Many
churches reflect these two dimensions of their mission as the outward facing and the inward facing
aspects of their mission, and I’m guessing that the
data that we could use will correspondingly come
from outward and inward sources.
For decades, churches have used external
sources of data to learn more about their city and
how they can best reach the unchurched and the
lost. The Intelligence Revolution is rapidly increasing the sources of data that are available. Demographics, crime data, addresses of certain types
of businesses and facilities, all of these sources
of data are becoming increasingly available and
searchable. George Barna, who
has long been a source for the
church of information on national
and global trends, has even introMake the move…
duced customized reports on 96
from Church Management Software…
cities and 48 states.
However, to help our conto Church Ministry Software
gregants grow in their knowledge
of God and their ability to obBuilt by the Church, for the Church
serve all that Christ commanded,
we likely need to look inside
▪ Open Source (the code is free)
- at the data that we have about
▪ Web-based
our own people. What are their
▪ Church Sponsored
“BTW, each day I am more
abilities? What are their desires?
thankful that we are using
▪ Ministry Focused
Where do they live and work? In
BVCMS. The rate you are
what ways and in what settings
adding features and improving
do we touch them today? How
the database blows my mind and
do we leverage these opportuniI really appreciate all you do.”
ties and create additional ones to
- Jared Coe
build them up in Christ? If we
have a large enough population,
we should be able to anonymize
the data for our analysis and decision making. On an aggregate
World Class Hosting and Support ▪ 220+ Churches ▪ Active Development
basis, what do we know about the
people who attend the early worwww.bvcms.com for more information and pricing
ship service and how should that
January 2015
24
affect our interactions with them
there? What do we know about
those in our singles ministry
and what opportunities can we
create for that group to help
them mature and grow? Obviously, this isn’t fundamentally
different from how we make
decisions today, but the potential promised by the Intelligence
Revolution is that we will have
more data and greater ability to
work with it, so that we can be
more precise and make decisions with greater confidence,
helping our churches be more
successful in achieving our mission, all to the glory of God.
It is my hope and prayer that
these articles will encourage you
in your daily walk with Christ.
As 1 Peter 4:10 teaches us “As
each has received a gift, use it to
serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
Russ McGuire is a trusted
advisor with proven strategic
insights. He has been blessed to
serve as an executive in Fortune
500 companies, found technology startups, be awarded technology patents, author a book
and contribute to others, write
dozens of articles for various
publications, and speak at many
conferences. More importantly,
he’s a husband and father who
cares about people, and he’s a
committed Christian who operates with integrity and believes
in doing what is right. Learn
more at http://sdgstrategy.com
January 2015
25
ministry communication
Four necessary things to
do with your website to
make it ministry effective
Yvon Prehn - yvon@effectivechurchcom.com
O
bviously, today almost every church has a website, but sadly many
church websites are little more than a newspaper or yellow pages
ad for the church (something that has the basic facts and little else)
posted online. This is not a factor of graphics or design, but of organization
and content. Below are four suggestions to take your site beyond being an
ad only to become an effective ministry tool in the coming year.
1—Don’t rely on your home page
Many churches put a great deal of time and emphasis
on their home page and this has increased over the last few
years with the advent of sliding header images, the “flat
design” movement, and the redesign of many church home
pages to look like the landing pages of secular companies.
There is nothing wrong with any of these design trends
and many church sites, because of the templates used to
create them are very attractive. However, for your church
site to be ministry effective it needs to be more than a
home page for two key reasons.
One: each category or ministry on your home page
needs to be explained in more detail if you want it to actually involve people, particularly those outside the church.
Be sure your home page is the foundation and links to
explanations. The cute graphics of programs that don’t
make sense to anyone but insiders don’t appeal to visitors
unfamiliar with your programs.
Two: Not everyone comes into your church website
and sees the home page first. More and more visits to
church sites come through search engine links of topics
searched for. BE SURE all your pages have clear menus,
in the headers or sidebars that let people know what else is
on the site and how to get to it.
2—Add depth to the site
Following from the point above, though your home
page will become less important as you add content to
your site, work hard to add content to your site so it becomes more than an extended newspaper ad online. Added
content will make your site more of a resource and evangelism tool for people looking to find out more about the
Christian faith.
Articles, links, videos and other materials that explain
January 2015
26
and defends the Christian faith can either be created by
your staff and members or you can summarize, comment
on, and link to material on other Christian sites.
Consider adding a team of reporters or writers for your
website. Assign an editor and give them guidelines in tone
and length. Don’t add this content creation expectation
on current staff. Your Sunday School teachers, lay Bible
teachers, retired pastors or staff who have the time and
desire to write and research can make a great content team.
This not only will help add depth to your church site, but
you may give people in your church who have the gift and
desire to do Christian writing a chance to practice their
gift.
3—Don’t forget the basics
Having just encouraged you to add depth to your site
with please don’t forget the basics.
People often come to your site looking for basic information and then they will look at other material if it is
interesting to them. But if your site doesn’t have the basics
they are looking for, it destroys the credibility of your site
overall.
Double check to make certain that you have:
• Updated times and locations for events—don’t just
pass over this quickly—really check to make sure
this is accurate.
• Up-to-date calendar and service times—if you
change the times for special days or events, be
sure you put this on your website.
• Clear labels or removal of events that have already
happened—nothing is worse than last month’s
special event still in a primary place on a website.
• Links to featured items—today many church
websites feature header sliders with key events
featured. Be sure these have links to all the information needed to explain the event: if there is a
cost, times, dates, etc., and a contact person for
more information.
becoming a pattern for many churches--you really need an
image for the project you are working on. You don’t have
money to buy one. You go to Google or Bing, do an image
search and grab the first image that looks good.
And then later you feel guilty because you feel you
may have stolen an image that wasn’t legally right for
you to use. Feeling bad isn’t the only issue here. Churches
and other organizations can be subject to substantial fines
if they use images that they aren’t legally entitled to use.
Also, it’s unrealistic to expect the Lord to bless our work if
we use stolen material to promote our ministries.
What to do? Check out the short video here for super
quick and easy ways to make sure you only snag legal
images: http://www.effectivechurchcom.com/2015/01/
how-to-legally-download-images-from-google-andPeriodically, informally have someone from outside
bing
the church look at your site (sit them down and watch
Websites are a never-ending church communication
them, pay money for their time) and ask them to find
where classes are, when and where basic services are, what challenge, but their ability to reach our communities for
Jesus will increase if you follow the four suggestions
is going on for kids, what the church cares about. If they
stumble and can’t find things, you know you need work on above.
For more advice, samples, templates and more on
basics.
effective church communications, go to: http://www.effectivechurchcom.com.
4—Get legal with your use of images
Text content isn’t the only area that you need to be
concerned about—images are another. Here is what is
January 2015
27
nick at church
All Data is Vulnerable
Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com
S
ony. The US government. The news is often filled with ‘the
latest’ cyberattack. It seems like all of our data is vulnerable.
What should we do about it? What can we do about it?
Can We Truly Secure Our Data?
I think the best answer is maybe, but always keep
in mind that if someone who is talented and focused
really wants to get to your data, they probably can.
It might take them a little time, but no data today is
completely secure. Whether it’s someone we know
who wants to hurt us (the hardest danger to protect
against), a vendor who is careless or not doing their
due diligence to protect the data they have, an email
or website link we clicked on that gives someone
access to our data, or some malicious person sitting
on the same public WiFi network we’re using to do
some quick shopping, our personal and corporate data
is more accessible than we’d like to believe. And if
our position in life is such that we become a ‘public’
target, we increase our vulnerability many times over.
Are Some Computers & Devices More Secure?
The quick answer is yes, but that doesn’t mean
we’d be willing to focus our lives on the ‘more secure’
systems. Remember that even the US government gets
hacked, and we’d like to believe it is doing all that can
be done to protect data we have entrusted to it (though
we give it some data because if we didn’t— like when
we send in our tax returns, we’d be breaking the law).
There are conferences around the world for
‘security’ people that attract a lot of hackers too. The
conferences often set up computers for attendees to try
to hack, and there are usually rewards given to those
who are the first to hack them. Typically, they set up
three current computers with current configurations:
a Mac OS system, a Windows system, and a Linux
system. The Mac OS system is usually the first to fall
January 2015
28
(often in less than five minutes), followed by the Windows system (usually within an hour), and the Linux
system is often the one nobody can hack. But most of
us don’t want to work on computers that run Linux;
we prefer our Mac OS and Windows systems.
Regarding iOS and Android devices, there are a
small number of exploitations for them, but the data
they carry is usually much less than computers carry
and the risk is, thus, fairly small. Of the two, iOS
devices seem to be more secure, perhaps because their
filing system is not typically available to users.
What Should We Do?
Be careful! But keep in mind that even if you are
careful, your data could still get hacked. Here are
some things I recommend:
• Keep your computers and other devices up to
date regarding the patches provided by their
operating system and application manufacturers. Many patches close up vulnerabilities that
have begun to be exploited.
• Run anti-malware on your computers, and
make certain your email is scanned to prevent
most of the SPAM that is sent to try to take
advantage of you.
• Reconsider whether you can really trust public
WiFi. I rarely use it— never on my computer,
and only sometimes on my iOS devices. If I
need my computer to connect to the Internet
while away, I use my smartphone’s hotspot
feature so that my connection is more secure.
Public WiFi is an easy way for malicious
people to gain access to your systems and data.
• Reconsider which websites and public cloud
solutions you can really trust with your sensitive data. Some very popular public cloud
solutions have track records of poor security.
• Use good passwords that are more difficult to
hack. I recommend passwords with a minimum of seven characters that are a mixture
of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and
common punctuation.
• If you use a digital wallet, don’t let it sync
your identity and security-related data to a
public cloud server. Even though that public
cloud vendor may do a good job on their security, they are a target in the hacker community.
You personally may not be a hacker target, and
so having that kind of data only on your local
devices (encrypted, of course), your security
may be elevated by your obscurity.
January 2015
29
• Some data is more prone
to problems than others.
Carefully read each email,
tweet, post, and text message you write before
pressing ‘Send’ to make
certain nothing you send
can be misinterpreted or
used to hurt you or someone else. The best strategy
is to assume each of those
communications over any
system could show up on
the news and be read by everyone you know.
Does It Really Matter?
I was consulting with a church
recently when one of the younger
pastors said he thought ‘data security’ was a “generational thing”.
Unfortunately, he is correct! Many
who are younger think the entire
data security topic is overplayed.
But those of us who are a little older
know people whose lives have been
significantly damaged because of
data theft, identity theft, and other
data security breaches. Recovering
from some of those data security
breaches takes a very long time, and
some people never recover from
them!
Yes, data security matters. And
if there are simple things you can do
to improve your data security, even
though doing them won’t guarantee
your data will be secure, it makes
sense to do them.
Nick Nicholaou is president of
MBS, an IT consulting firm specializing in church and ministry computer
networks, VoIP, and private cloud
hosted services. You can reach Nick
at nick@mbsinc.com and may want
to check out his firm’s website (www.
mbsinc.com) and his blog at http://
ministry-it.blogspot.com.
January 2015
30

Are you really ready for 2015?

Transcription

Similar documents

to Veiw Javier Buelna Vision Statement and Bio

TULLIAN TCHIVIDJIAN – BIO GLORIOUS RUIN

March 27 2016 - Heritage Christian Reformed Church

RBI Brochure

Applying Tomorrow`s Technology to Today`s Ministry

April 5 2015 - Heritage Christian Reformed Church

Applying Tomorrow`s Technology to Today`s Ministry

TLC Preschool Brochure

2012 - Christian Retailing`s Best

CBA Winter