5 reasons to secure your law firm right now
Hackers are making big money on the legal industry lately, and it seems to only be getting worse. Law firms are vulnerable to cyber attacks due to the nature of their profession. They handle very sensitive information about their clients like: financial records, company secrets, and health information. Cyber-criminals are taking advantage of the fact that the legal sector is slow-moving when it comes to securing their data. If you’re a lawyer, or work for a law firm, here are five major reasons why you should take measures to secure your company right now:
Reason #1: There is a dramatic increase of data breaches
Law firms pose a higher risk for data leaks due to their business nature of storing and sharing sensitive information. Data leaks are the most common result of cyber-attacks. Due to the lack of security used by many law firms, it is easy for hackers to perform data breaches via malware, phishing, and even denial of service.
Reason #2: Phishing scams are most popular
3.4 billion fake emails are sent each day. In 2020, 74% of organizations in the United States experienced a successful phishing attack. It is becoming increasingly difficult to decipher whether an email is a phishing campaign or not due to the growing sophistication in the attacks.
Reason #3: Hacked email accounts is a major problem
There is a hacker attack happening every 39 seconds, and email is the main use of communication for most professional services. Criminals can take over most of your accounts associated with your email once they have gained access.
Reason #4: Lack of security as a priority
Less than half of all law firms in the U.S use some form of encryption software with custom policies to protect their client’s privacy. This means that a lot of your client’s confidential information is just sitting on a laptop or computer unsecured.
Reason #5: Ethical & regulatory obligations are weighing in
To comply with the ABA’s rule 1.6: Confidentiality of Information, lawyers must make a reasonable effort to secure client information. To operate in an ethical manner according to the American Bar Association, lawyers should have security policies in place to ensure the protection of client data.
Bottom line: Cybercriminals love law firms as targets for their cyber attacks. It is crucial for the modern law firm to protect themselves against email-borne threats, and data leaks. ExchangeDefender specializes in law firm data security, compliance, and continuity solutions. The legal industry relies on ExchangeDefender to mitigate risks of cyber and email attacks. We secure your law practice, and protect your clients by eliminating the danger of data breach or ransomware.
4 cybersecurity stats that every lawyer should know
Cyber-attacks on the legal sector are on the rise. Legal practices are big targets for hackers due to their access to sensitive information, and severe lack of security.
Here are four statistics that ring alarm bells in the industry:
Number one: One in four law firms have experienced a security breach of some kind. Even more have had malware or viruses according to a 2019 American Bar Association survey.
Number two: Data breaches cost your local small practice an estimated average of $36,000 dollars. To put in perspective, a new legal assistant salary for the year would costs the firm about the same price. Also, at least 31% of their clients terminate their relationship with the firm afterwards.
Number three: 61% of ransomware victims in the legal sector were Law Firms in 2020. It is the highest of the legal profession, with Courts, and Legal Services coming in second.
Number four: 94% of malware and ransomware attacks were delivered by email in 2020. There are new malware and viruses being discovered every day.
The bottom line
Law firms pose a higher risk for data leaks due to their business nature of storing and sharing sensitive information. ExchangeDefender provides affordable email security, email archiving, and email continuity solutions to the legal industry. One of our largest client bases, the legal industry relies on ExchangeDefender to mitigate risks of cyber and email attacks.
Secure your law firm, explore our small business plans today!