Law firms in Australia are now becoming the prime targets for cyber attacks. Especially, the smaller law firms and barristers are in a special need to protect their digital assets against malware such as ransomware.
A special campaign named Cyber Precedent was launched by law council president Stuart Clark recently and was meant to educate lawyers and business owners of law firms.
It is a known fact that law firms hold a lot of sensitive data about individuals or corporate groups and so such data can turn into a gold mine for hackers.
Information which is stored by commercial lawyers in relation to mergers, acquisition, takeovers and another market sensitive info is turning into an earning paradise for ransomware spreading criminals. These cyber crooks somehow get into the network mostly by phishing and start locking the access to the database on a remote basis. Then they demand a ransom for unlocking the files which are usually in the form of cryptocurrency.
However, there is no guarantee that the key to unlocking the digital malicious software will be offered to the victim even after the said ransom is paid.
In recent times, the federal government was forced to confront the realities of cyber security in the wake of several reports of government assets being cyber attacked. In one such incident which took place on a recent note, the 2016 online census was shut down for 40 hours after repeated DDoS attacks blocked the access to the website.
Cyber Precedent is aimed to educate small barristers and law firms on what could perhaps make them vulnerable to cyber espionage and the steps to be taken to counter such situations.
The law council’s educational program throws the light on the importance of having data encryption, data security, backup and the importance of disaster recovery when such hacks hit the law firms.
