From Ticketmaster to Transport for London, and WRU to the NHS, breaches and cyber attacks are now more prevalent in the news than ever before. It’s almost impossible to avoid a story of a data leak on one day, or a cyber-targeted shutdown the next.

Because of the nature of the businesses and the sheer wealth of personal information they hold, professional services are one of the biggest targets and hardest-hit sectors when it comes to cyber crime.

The legal industry is vast, encompassing multinational firms and sole practitioners who all play a crucial role in delivering justice, handling business matters, and more. No firm, practice or chamber is immune to cyber threats, all have assets cyber criminals want. There’s no denying that.

In 2020, the SRA reported that 75% of the law firms visited for their cyber security thematic review had been targets of a cyber attack, while the remaining 25% found that their clients had been directly targeted.

These incidents often led to substantial financial loss, potentially costing millions. However, the indirect consequences can be just as damaging. Law firms face fines from regulatory bodies like the ICO or SRA if data is compromised, higher insurance costs, lost billable hours, reputational damage, and financial harm to their clients.

As businesses, law firms and practitioners are held to some of the highest standards of integrity. What would happen should there be a dent in yours?

With a dependence on the digital environment to operate, professional services firms are displaying a rising interest in cyber security. However, a degree of complacency and perception of cyber crime as a farfetched concept that “would never happen to us” is still present. With the number and variety of attacks increasing year on year, the time for proactive measures cannot come soon enough.

Ask yourself this

Law firms should be asking themselves these questions to protect their data and their clients:

• Where is your data stored, and who has access to it?
• Do you have comprehensive cyber security policies, and are they understood by all staff?
• What defences, both active and passive, do you have in place?
• Do you regularly back up your data both on-site and off-site?
• Are your systems and software up to date?
• Are you accredited under Cyber Essentials Plus?
• Do you have a clear incident response plan to mitigate damage in case of an attack?
• How would an attack on your suppliers impact you? How confident are you in their security
• Is your IT provider offering sufficient protection through vulnerability scanning, phishing simulations, dark web monitoring, and penetration testing?

Answering these questions will help you understand the full picture of your cyber security posture. Mapping the answers to a robust cyber security policy will help you build the necessary defences to safeguard your business, your clients, your reputation and your bottom line.

Further free help

You can understand more about the current cyber threat landscape in PureCyber’s Threat Intelligence Report, or review how to manage your supply chain cyber security by watching PureCyber’s free webinar.

Book a free discussion with PureCyber in a few quick clicks here to talk about your cyber security needs and concerns.

PureCyber Ignite

PureCyber Ignite is a new online event giving you real life examples of cyber attacks, and insights into the cyber underworld. Identifying what mistakes were made and practical advice on how you can take personal action to prevent the same in your organisation.

What to expect?

PureCyber Ignite will be delivered online by the PureCyber team of experts on the 13th November 2024, at 12pm. 

You can expect a lively, interactive session with the PureCyber team – myth-busting misconceptions, dissecting real-life scenarios, and providing realistic tips and techniques for you to fight back.

Register your free place, here.