How to protect your firm from a cyber liability claim
Why is cybersecurity important for law firms?
Law firms are a one-stop shop for hackers to gain access to sensitive information. Since the start of the pandemic, cybercrime has been on the rise. It is reported that 75% of law firms have been victims of cyberattacks, and it is estimated that 25% of firms are not encrypting their laptops.
Why do law firms need incident response plans?
By following an updated incident response plan, your security team can proactively protect your data. If a security breach is not properly handled quickly, the company risks losing some or all of its customer base. A thorough incident response process defends your organization from a potential loss of revenue.
What are some of the top security concerns in law firms?
Law firms are not following the right security policies and procedures especially when it comes to the following:
- Managing data retention
- Insecure practices around email and internet Usage
- Vulnerabilities around remote access
- Use of social media and personal technology
What kind of data security obligations do law firms have?
- Contractual and regulatory obligations involve protecting client data and personally identifiable information (PII)
- Securing communication of protected client information
- Lawyers’ obligations after an electronic data breach or cyberattack
- Security due diligence for “Virtual Practice”
What are some cybersecurity best practices?
- Keep software and hardware up to date.
- Enable 2-factor authentication.
- Check a link before you click.
- Back-up important data.
Does Cybersecurity Awareness Training help?
Yes, approximately 85% of security compromises are due to human errors. Train your employees on how to identify a phishing email, how social engineering is used to extract information, and the pitfalls of reusing or sharing passwords. Providing your employees with awareness training helps bring your company closer to developing a culture of security.
Should Law Firms undergo a cybersecurity risk assessment?
Due to some of the recent high-profile law firm data breaches, clients are demanding that law firms undergo third-party cybersecurity risk assessments. A recent survey shows that only 27% of law firms conducted a thorough cybersecurity risk assessment.
Why do law firms need cyber insurance?
Cyber insurance is important. It helps firms comply with state regulations that require businesses to alert customers of a data breach involving any of their personally identifiable information. Policies can also cover:
- Legal fees and expenses customer notifications in the event of a breach
- An option to monitor the information of anyone impacted for a specified period
- Costs incurred in the recovery of compromised data
- Costs for the repair of damaged computer systems
What else can Law Firms do to protect themselves?
Get Cyber Insurance! Cyber attacks are on the rise. As someone once said, there are two kinds of companies – one that has been breached and one that do not know they have been breached.
What services can Careful Security provide to Law Firms?
When working with law firms, we start by conducting a thorough risk assessment. We remediate risks based on the gaps identified. We also provide security awareness training, set up security monitoring and alerting solutions for incident response, and help you get the right cyber insurance coverage.