08 September 2020
Law firms need to be extra vigilant to the risk of cybercrime in the time of COVID-19, regulators have warned
Human error was identified as the biggest risk, in an in-depth Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) study of 40 cyberattacks reported by law firms between 2016 and 2019, during which £4m was stolen.
More than half of the firms allowed external USB sticks to be plugged into company devices, two firms were using out-of-date Windows operating systems, and a further 16 used systems soon to become unsupported. Firms did not necessarily report or know when they had to report incidences of data theft to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Paul Philip, SRA Chief Executive, said: ‘Millions more people than ever before are working from home, be they law firm employees or clients. That means the need for everyone to remain cybercrime vigilant has never been higher.’
View the study, ‘Cybercrime thematic review’, at: bit.ly/3hhKtrb.
