With the legal sector under attack from cybercrime, one of the North East's leading IT companies, Advantex, is hosting a free webinar this month to provide expertise on how local solicitors can better protect themselves.
The legal sector is a vital cog not only in North East business and government infrastructure, holding personal, business critical and commercially sensitive information, but also the wider UK, contributing significantly to GDP. But it’s a sector under attack. It’s estimated that 62% of UK law firms have been victims of a cyber attack in some capacity; while only a third (35%) of firms are believed to have a plan in place to protect themselves.
Resourceful hackers and organised criminal gangs are looking to extort and defraud solicitors, targeting IT systems, client files, or using carefully nurtured relationships in order to conduct an attack carried out by a third party. A hack can have devastating consequences for a firm’s reputation, not to mention the impact on financial loss. Client confidence can also suffer, while firms can find themselves in breach of contract and liable to compensate clients for breaches involving data loss.
Under the Law Society’s practise rules and standards of conduct, failure to introduce satisfactory security measures can be interpreted as a breach of obligation and result in a misconduct finding. Firms may also find themselves in breach of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into effect from May. This requires higher standards to protect the security of data along with eye-watering fines for breaches – as much as 20 million or 4% or annual global turnover, whichever is greater.
Remote working, the use of personal IT equipment, out-of-date software and failure to back-up systems properly, present some of the myriad opportunities available to hackers using malicious software (malware), spoof email addresses and domain names (phishing), and ransomware, which locks users out of their IT systems until they’ve paid off the cyber-terrorist. Waterholing, vishing, macro infections and virus are also terms employed to describe other nefarious activities.
So, what can solicitors do to protect themselves?
Steve O’Connell, sales director at Advantex, says: “Time is pressing and solicitors must act to make sure they are properly and effectively protected. “Education and risk assessment practices can play a part in delivering this, but firms should have a set of prescriptive policies in place that everyone follows to reduce the risk. These can be paramount and will explain how to act in the event of a data breach – a blue print for comprehensive safety and security.”
Advantex’s free webinar will examine how solicitors can stay a step ahead of the attackers and explain the role of a multi-layered defence, and how it integrates with existing IT systems to prove effective in countering the known and unknown threats. The event will also provide advice and practical examples of how firms can protect themselves before, during and after an attack using advanced technologies such as Cisco Umbrella.
Steve O’Connell adds: “Solicitors will undoubtedly benefit from the free advice we will provide as they face up to developing strategies maybe in partnership with an IT supplier to deal with the cyber threats impacting on the legal profession. If you run a practice, or perhaps have responsibility for the IT, and want to secure the future of your business, you must ask yourself: how much longer can I afford to ignore the risk?”
The ‘Secure the Network Perimeter & Defend Your Cloud Territory’ seminar will take place at 2pm on 25th April. Secure your place by signing up now at www.advantex.uk.com/secure-your-networkwebinar/ A free trial of Cisco Umbrella will be available to participating delegates.