Legal Futures Five practical ways of strengthening your cyber security posture

By Legal Futures Associate CTS ^[1]

The current threat landscape continues to evolve and heightened geopolitical activity can lead to a further increase in cyber security attacks.

Law firms are considered a prime target for attacks, exploitation, and ransom, and so it is essential that the legal sector takes a proactive and structured approach to managing security.

In this blog, we explore some practical measures that law firms can take to strengthen their cyber security posture.

Be proactive about earning the appropriate security accreditations

The legal sector has seen an increase in the number of clients performing security audits on them, as the public becomes ever more concerned about how their personal data is stored, managed and protected. This combined with the fact that regulators are taking an increasingly hardline stance against firms that fail to introduce appropriate measures to prevent and respond to attacks means that security accreditations are more pertinent than ever.

Earning Cyber Essentials and ISO 27001 certifications can help your firm maintain the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your and your clients’ information, improving your cyber security posture and business efficiency all while ensuring that you meet your legal and regulatory data protection obligations.

Invest in your network security

Cyber criminals are constantly looking for weak spots to exploit, and one of the easiest ways for them to gain access to confidential data is through unsecured networks.

Firewalls are one of the most vital parts of your network security, acting as the first line of defence against the countless threats that law firms face. Ensuring your firewall has specific access rules, which determine whether it should allow incoming or outgoing traffic from your device or the Internet or whether it should block access, is a simple yet effective step in protecting your data.

To protect data, users and your firm from security risks such as malware, phishing and denial of service, web security is critical. Web security protects businesses from breaches and attacks from online threats by monitoring and filtering internet traffic and blocking any traffic that is potentially harmful or suspicious.

Keep your devices and communications secure

With the ever-increasing number of endpoint devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones), traditional antivirus is no longer enough to fight against advanced attacks that enter through these avenues. The introduction of Endpoint Detection and Response can be a simple yet big advantage to the legal sector and their information security defences.

Secondly, where possible, you should access the internet via an Ethernet port, or when working remotely, the use of VPNs, paired with web filtering and MFA is of particular importance.

Deliver regular cyber security awareness training to your staff

According to a report from the SRA, of the senior members surveyed, over 50% said they understood the terms ‘phishing’, ‘ransomware’ and ‘malware’. However, of the fee earners, 55% said they didn’t understand the term ransomware or virus.

Cybersecurity is not only the responsibility of your IT department, but everyone with your law firm should also have a general level of knowledge. There is an undeniable link between basic cybersecurity knowledge and the mitigation of breaches – it is vital that your end users undergo continuous training to keep abreast of the ever-evolving threat landscape.

Partner with a specialist Managed Service Provider (MSP)

Working with a legal specialist gives you the reassurance that they are experienced in dealing with the unique auditing and compliance requirements of the legal sector, in addition to the non-sector specific, yet just as significant, regulations such as GDPR.

Additionally, they should also cover a range of specialised and accredited services such as ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials PLUS, to ensure that you achieve your objectives. Your IT partner should understand and appreciate the plethora of processes legal firms work through on a daily basis in order to provide a tailored service to your firm.

Throughout the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, CTS, the legal sector’s provider of cloud and IT services specifically shaped for law, have continued to work diligently to protect our clients and their data.