Cybersecurity For Law Firms : How To Manage Your Law Practice Safely

Published: 22 October 2018

Over the last few years, the cyber threat to the UK legal sector has grown significantly with reports showing over £11 million of client money stolen due to cybercrime in 2016. With devastating financial and reputational effects both for the firm but also its clients, here we provide legal professionals with the tools to protect their clients…

To support the local legal industry, last week in Belfast, in partnership with Sophos – IT security experts, we hosted a cybersecurity workshop to educate the sector on the most significant threats including phishing, data breaches and ransomware. After the overwhelming response, here we share the presentation’s slides so you can see the value for yourself…

View the presentation here >>>

An industry on the verge

Reports show that Northern Ireland is fast becoming the cyber-crime capital of Europe, with law firms being at the top of the hit list. In the last three years, nearly 120 cyber-scam warnings over the interception of payments between prospective home buyers and their solicitors have been issued by the Law Society of Northern Ireland.

Most of the cyber scams involved ransomware, phishing and mail-forwarding emails as well as bogus phone calls to organisations. In many cases home buyers received an unexpected email from their solicitor asking to deposit into a new bank account.

Despite, efforts being made to prevent transfer scams, some home buyers lost significant amounts of money intended for their house purchase – with many never recovering their deposits.

Cybersecurity: what can law firms do?

With a growing number and sophistication of security threats, many small and mid-sized law firms  become even more prone to vulnerabilities due to limited resources and capacity.

However, with 95% of breaches happening a result of a human error, education is key to building a culture of security…

Go back to basics

According to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), phishing is the most common cyber-attack affecting law firms, therefore helping users identify and report suspected phishing emails is vital.

In this blog, Can You Catch A Phish? 7 Top Tips To Spot Malicious Emails, we have covered how not to fall for the bait.

Train outside the box

It’s one thing to provide security awareness training, but another to know that the training has successfully sank in.

Threat simulations will help you test your employees’ responses, enabling you to take immediate action to reinforce learning. These emails help employees understand how to spot an advanced attack and prevent future breaches.

Embed  an effective security culture

Ensuring your business processes are robust enough against phishing is essential to maintain a secure practice. This could involve encouraging a culture where suspicious transactions are queried and educating clients about your firm’s invoice and money transfer processes to help them avoid falling victim to a phishing attack.

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