Client data is sacrosanct- How is your law firm protecting it?

A recent article of the Law Society Gazette has brought cyber security into the limelight again after

announcing a hack attack on 48 major law firms. Among the targets were Hogan Lovells, Allen &

Overy and Freshfields. The attackers were seeking information about mergers and acquisitions for

inside trading.

”Client confidentiality is sacrosanct. We will continue to work to ensure our systems are best in class” stated Cravath Swaine & Moore, a firm that fell victim to a cyber attack last summer.

This statement highlights the need for a solution to the peril of having your client data

compromised- implementing the right security systems. According to the Solicitors Regulation

Authority, law firms have the responsibility to protect client money and assets. So the question is:

how well do you do it and are you pro-actively safeguarding client data? These recent attacks

prove that it’s time for your firm to assess its systems.

There are different types of controls that you can implement to keep your client’s data safe:

updating your anti-virus software, operating systems and browsers

adopting a vulnerability assessment programme that monitors and fixes your IT network and

data security breaches

restricting the use of email communications in favour of online collaboration tools

limiting file access and ensuring that only those members of staff who need to work on a file

can view and/or open it. Your case management system should allow you to make this

change.

During a one-day Cyber Security Audit, we assess your firm and its modus operandi as

regards cyber security.

Some of the measures that you need to embrace are relatively straightforward. Simply locking the

screen when away from the desk or adding a login password on one’s mobile device can

significantly decrease the risk of data loss or misuse.

However other measures that your firm needs to implement are very technical. You need a

dedicated IT team to put them in place. Through dpscloud, our managed IT solution, we become

your external IT department, responsible for updating your software, and protecting your data. We

have our own data centre and currently host & protect the information of more than 140 legal

businesses across England (that is also using our practice management software).

Our company is Cyber Essentials certified and are the only legal technology provider to be ISO

27001:2013 accredited.

”Firms aggregate sensitive information… and so are very high on the target list of both organised criminals and nation states.” said Peter Armstrong, cyber director at insurance firm Willis Finex Global.