Providing the legal sector with the deep visibility, security, and data monitoring they need to thrive
Cybercriminals frequently target the legal sector due to its extensive holdings of highly confidential, commercially sensitive, and often personal information. As a sector built on trust and reputation, this growing threat continues to disrupt and create havoc in business operations, underscoring the necessity for a deeper understanding of cyber threats and stronger cyber security measures within the legal industry.
A recent report from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), published in early 2023, revealed that the UK has over 32,900 legal enterprises, encompassing barristers, solicitors, and other legal service providers. With an estimated total revenue of £43.9 billion and more than 320,000 people employed in the legal sector, it represents a large and lucrative target for cybercriminals.
Legal firms may not know they have been compromised
Insufficient security monitoring and visibility into the environment could lead legal firms to remain unaware of potential compromises until it's too late. By the time they discover a breach, significant harm may have already occurred, and sensitive client data could have been stolen.
Moreover, our experience with legal firms reveals that they are facing rising vulnerabilities due to the 'work from anywhere' setup, the growing threat landscape, and the ever-increasing complexity of cyber attacks.
Larger firms are starting to address cyber risk
Legal firms commonly face various types of attacks, including phishing attacks, Business Email Compromise, ransomware attacks, password attacks, and supply chain attacks. Recognizing the escalating risk landscape, these firms are now giving higher priority to governance and security. The 2022 PricewaterhouseCoopers Annual Law Firms Survey reveals that larger law firms are significantly increasing their spending on cyber risk management, with the top 100 allocating an average of 0.46 percent of fees to address this issue. This indicates a growing awareness of the problem and a need for enhanced data visibility.
It is crucial for legal firms to allocate their limited budgets and resources to mitigate cyber risks in order to prevent disruptions to their routine business operations. Failing to invest in necessary security controls can leave firms at risk of severe penalties and fines from the Information Commissioner’s Office, not to mention making legal firms more attractive targets for cybercriminals. Not only do these firms lose billable hours due to outages, but they also risk losing clients and enduring reputational damage, which can have immeasurable costs.
Given the significant funds legal firms handle and the time-sensitive nature of legal transactions, it's no surprise that this sector is enticing to cybercriminals, particularly ransomware gangs using phishing campaigns as an entry vector to extort money in exchange for the swift restoration of IT services.
Working with an external IT service provider
Managed service partners often handle IT services, including security, for many legal firms, particularly smaller to mid-size organizations. As a result, these firms may find it challenging to independently evaluate whether their current controls adequately match the risks they face.
To enhance productivity, overall performance and document and data visibility, many legal firms now utilise document management systems like iManage or NetDocuments. However, the vital organizational data these systems store in public clouds or on-premises makes data security and compliance increasingly complex.
By engaging security partners with a modern approach to security operations, and those that understand the operational importance of document management systems, legal firms can create secure workspaces, empower their teams, and safeguard client data. This powerful combination allows for policy-based security that ultimately, provides visibility into security of their data, and the effective managing, governing, and auditing of content and associated activities.
A lack of visibility into their data
Even legal firms equipped with significant security tooling often lack the necessary level of visibility and management required to effectively safeguard themselves from cyber breaches and attacks.
Without proper technology integration, tuning, expertise, and defined processes, these tools may not prove effective. Modern Security Operations Centers (SOCs) approach security holistically to enhance investigation and detection capabilities, aggregating data from all sources, including users, applications, servers, and cloud-based devices. This allows security teams to review vast amounts of data within seconds.
For larger legal firms, especially those with an overarching global brand comprising multiple member firms, the challenge becomes more complex with their own systems and processes. Standardization becomes crucial for improved security and cost savings, and it is often the sensible choice for firms seeking to mature their cybersecurity posture.
Being a force multiplier
The National Cyber Security Centre's latest report on Cyber Threats to the Legal Sector highlights the heightened risks caused by the widespread adoption of hybrid working, accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Legal firms will continue to be an attractive target for cyber attacks due to the sensitive information they handle.
This, coupled with the limited security budgets and a shortage of cyber skills, presents challenges for firms to develop robust internal security strategies. As a result, more legal firms are turning to specialized managed security service providers and cyber defense experts to safeguard their data and knowledge, foster seamless team collaboration, enhance productivity, and ultimately achieve operational resilience, enabling them to focus on business growth and thrive.
Image credit: AndrewLozovyi/depositphotos.com
Adam Holt is Director of Engineering, BlueVoyant, an outcomes-based, cloud-native cyber defense platform that delivers positive security outcomes that drive business results.