First: the good news: COVID has enabled a lot of law firms to shrink the size of their office lease without affecting productivity. The not-so-good news: one file with a social security number, full name (and spousal relationship), and date of birth can go between $50 to $100 dollars on the black market.
Combine the two and there’s a simple truth: preventing data breaches with a remote staffed law firm is now a lot more important than it used to be.
It’s Not Just Global Law Firms: Small Firms Are Also At Risk
The data breaches at well-known law firms such as DLA Piper (2017) and Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks (2020), are not too surprising – the larger the firm, the higher likelihood someone out there wants to get access to their data.
Smaller law firms are targets for a completely different reason – they have a reputation for having fewer safeguards to shield their data from a hack. Combine this with the need for more remote access to your firm’s data and hackers see an opportunity to get a quick payday.
A few steps you should consider:
- Educate everyone inside the firm to be skeptical of any attachments that they were not expecting in an email.
- VPNs and firewalls aren’t a panacea. They won’t make your firm invincible, especially if you don’t have a secure entry point for remote workers.
- Use multi-factor authentication if possible. A strong, long password is great, but often not enough.
If you want a second opinion on your firm’s safety from hacking, we’re happy to help.
