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29 April 2021 / Frances McLeod
Issue: 7930 / Categories: Features , Profession , Covid-19 , Cyber , Data protection , Technology
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Cyber security: nowhere to hide?

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The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on cyber security risks for law firms—the time to act on them is now, says Frances McLeod
  • With many businesses having adjusted to a new, remote way of working, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present specific security challenges to the legal sector.

Historically, law firms have been reluctant to embrace remote working due to concerns around handling highly confidential and sensitive data, tight deadlines, and a collaborative, office-based culture. As law firms now consider the prospect of more permanent remote working, the need to remain vigilant amid increased security risks is greater than ever.

Law firms are particularly vulnerable to attacks, given the high volume of confidential and privileged client information they are required to store.

Issues of connectivity and security from home working are not new. But the pandemic, forcing a near total shift to home working, has shone a light on the matter. Now more than ever, data governance is a business-critical function, yet companies are required

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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