The first-ever virtual General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) opened on Sunday, October 25, through October 27, 2020. The plenary sessions and workshops for the 146 Jewish Federations and 300 independent Jewish communities in Canada and the United States are all online this year. For the past eight months, Jewish Federation leaders have come together to support the Jewish community locally and globally in the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.   

Eric Fingerhut, CEO and President of JFNA opened the General Assembly (GA). The first GA session with three female Israeli Knesset members was moderated by David Butler.   

'Global Pandemic, Local Security' was one of the first workshops moderated by Michael Masters of SCN. Phishing incidents and scams such as those Social Security Administration warn about, happen multiple times a day according to Brad Orsin. The workshop participants concluded that training, trusting relationships with police, and cooperation are crucial to providing security as online threats and antisemitic attacks have increased. 

The US Department of State hosted a Conference on Internet Antisemitism: "Ancient Hatred - Modern Medium" with opening statements by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The conference was moderated by Ellie Cohanim, Assistant US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, headed by Special Envoy Elan S. Carr. 

Among the multiple distinguished international speakers were Ambassador Ron Dermer who said for years Jews were told to "go to Palestine, but now get out of Palestine." While in his comments Michael Gove MP stated, "antisemitism is a threat to us all." Online antisemitism requires new tactics and new partners to control. Nitzan Tamari of Active Fence spoke of networks operating below the surface, avoiding Twitter and Facebook, and sites like Gab where free speech goes unchecked and haters end up recruiting individuals for violence. 

Rabbi Abraham Cooper moderated a panel with Rev. Sam Rodriquez and Muslim Salim Mansur who spoke of the perversion of Islam. The speakers concluded there are no lone wolves, but an ongoing network of hate, fueled on the deep net.

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From Tel Aviv, the 10th CyberWeek was also held as an online conference from October 19-21. Along with the various technical sessions, cybersecurity was a key focus of the annual international conference. The final segment of the conference was called FraudCON - War Stories. COVID-19 spurred multiple online schemes of fake corona apps and fraud. Cybercriminals and phishing attackers focused on areas of health to take advantage of the crisis. Watch out for those internet memes and fake campaigns with fake personas. "Research shows a false story about anything, not just politics, will reach 1,500 people six times faster than the legitimate news" reported Theresa Payton.. 

Hackers work in four ways, phishing (email fraud), vishing (video fraud), smishing (SMS fraud), and.impersonation (phone call fraud) according to American author and security expert Christopher J. Hadnagy.

Hadnagy ended his presentation with how emotional responses occur "before the brain kicks in." The hacking expert ended his talk with - "It's ok to wait!" 

Before you click that link, share a strange video, or give away important information on the phone, take time to stop and think. 

Social Security scams should be reported to OIG.SSA.GOV. Other fraud or antisemitic attacks should be reported to proper authorities. See something, say something was the consensus at the virtual GA. 

Train. Be prepared. Communicate. Come together. 

Be prepared and there is hope for the future. 

Photo essay includes images taken from the internet presentations.