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Summary: Cybersecurity is a serious threat that law firms are starting to grasp but there are still serious weaknesses that can be addressed.
The Internet is a great tool but it also holds our most important information. Cybercrime has become a hot topic as of late due to an increase in law firms being attacked. Law firms keep valuable information from personal to professional that can cause disastrous damage to the owner and firm.
Two major law firms were hacked last year – Cravath Swaine & Moore and Weil Gotshal & Manges. The firms are described by the Wall Street Journal as firms that “represent Wall Street banks and Fortune 500 companies in everything from lawsuits to multibillion-dollar merger negotiations.” The incidents are being investigated by the FBI for insider trading motives.
Read Will Cravath Swaine & Moore and Other Law Firms Get Hacked Again? to learn more.
Other law firms are hacked but the attacks generally don’t make national headlines. The Journal states, “the increase in hacking tools and hackers for has made it easier for criminals to breach computer networks as a way to further a range of crimes form insides trading to identity theft.”
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See Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Against Chicago Law Firm Over Security Weaknesses.
Here are ten recommendations from the experts on how law firms can better protect themselves:
- Provide better and more training for employees.
- Keep backup information disconnected from the Internet and their personal network.
- Install patches and updates.
- Update software.
- Block the bad stuff like executable files, compressed archives and unidentified users.
- Control the encryption key if your firm uses cloud storage.
- Make your cybersecurity program match the needs the future clients.
- Make your restrictions of remote access and mobile devices clear and effective.
- Set systems in place to seize log data in case a breach occurs.
- Share any threat information to help others protect themselves.
Are you worried about law firms become an even bigger target for hackers? Tell us why in the comments below.
To learn more about how law firms are trying to protect themselves read Law Firms Teaming Up to Protect Each Other’s Data.
Photo: iti.illinois.edu
