Data Security is Paramount for Law Firms

While the layperson might think that the documents and data a lawyer has are uninteresting, cybercriminals think otherwise.

In fact, it’s critical that legal firms protect their data and stay vigilant, as it’s easier than ever for cybercriminals to lock down and steal your sensitive information.

Is Your Data Secure?

Cybercriminals are well aware of the value of the information on a lawyer’s laptop. They also know that law firms put a high value on their data. After all, your firm potentially stores a lot of sensitive information in the form of trade secrets, intellectual property, and client information. Attorney-client privilege is critical and a hacker knows that a law firm might go to the extreme to resolve a data breach. 

Unfortunately, if you’ve been hacked and your data has been compromised, it’s far too late.

The big issue is that cybercriminals have an array of options when it comes to getting your data, regardless of the type of business you run. There are some basic protections that most businesses know to deploy—antivirus, firewalls, etc.—but cybercriminals have been expanding their set of tools to work around these solutions.

Threats can come in through phishing emails that look legitimate, but carry a dangerous payload of ransomware. Some ransomware will immediately encrypt and lock down a device until the ransom is paid, while other variants will spread across the entire network or try to infect everyone in your contact list with the same email tactic. It gets messy really fast, and it gets expensive. Plus, there’s no guarantee that paying the ransom will even get your data back, or if the anonymous criminal will even uphold their word.

That’s why we’ve been seeing a lot of ransomware coverage in the news over the last couple of years—public municipalities, schools, even hospitals have been forced to deal with these attacks, and many of the stories don’t have happy endings.

Before you tell yourself “I’m just a small law firm” or “It’s just me and my partner,” it’s important to realize that smaller targets are just as appealing to a cybercriminal. They know you are more likely to not have the protections in place to prevent them from getting in, they know you might pay a ransom to get your files back, and they know your data still has value to them even if you don’t.

How Capstone Works, Inc. Can Protect Your Legal Firm

The most effective way to protect your data is with a comprehensive backup and recovery plan. A ransomware attack can only hold your data hostage if you cannot regain control of it; your backup is the solution to this problem. A data backup and recovery solution in the form of Business Continuity should be a prominent part of the foundation of any well-designed managed IT plan; regardless of your business or industry. 

Texas continues to increase the attention businesses must pay to data breaches, as indicated by the passing of the Texas Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act, or Texas House Bill 4390. This means that even if you were to pay the ransom, you still must inform not only the Texas District Attorney but your customers as well of the breach. There is no way around it; it is critical that your organization does all it can to protect your data.

It goes beyond just trusting a backup though. Ensuring that your sensitive information is locked down on a need-to-know basis, and that your firm strictly follows security best practices will go a long way. Some of this involves having the right hardware and software, some of it involves keeping everything managed, updated, and monitored, and some of it involves network policies.

Managed IT offers security solutions ranging from the encryption of sensitive information, implementation of 2FA (two-factor authentication), access control (physical and digital), and finally, team training. Your team's training is a critical component of any data protection protocol, as, more often than not, your team will be targeted by cybercriminals as the weakest link.

Proactive IT Management Is Essential For the Growth and Sustainability of Legal Firms

While it's evident that managed IT can benefit your organization's data protection, it can do so much more. Due to the wide range of solutions provided, managed IT should be considered an essential service for any business. Due to their services' nature and the data they are responsible for, attorneys can benefit from all aspects of an IT management plan. This includes faster, more custom-tailored support to improved solutions for communication and collaboration, to secure document management and storage solutions.

Some benefits managed IT brings to your legal firm include:

• Monitoring your network to identify and prevent threats. This is critical in preventing ransomware from spreading deeply into your systems.
• Ensuring your team's productivity isn't affected due to out-of-date or incompatible technology. 
• Avoiding hardware downtime through proactive monitoring and preemptive strategies, which prevents technical problems before they can happen.

Let’s Show You a World of Difference

Here’s the thing: we know that many businesses (not just law firms) have been burned in the past by IT companies that offer “all-you-can-eat” support at a premium, but don’t really deliver. Repeat issues, slow response times, or overall mismanagement of your IT infrastructure can put a bad taste in your mouth when it comes to dealing with IT professionals.

Capstone Works, Inc. is truly different. We’re not in the business to sell you computers or lock you into an agreement that isn’t going to take care of your organization. We want you to succeed. We want you to grow. We want to prevent issues and keep the technology from getting in your way. It’s amazing how effective a business can be when everything works, and we aim for that with all of our clients.

Call (512) 343-8891 x2  today to schedule a free IT consultation, and learn how our personalized, proactive IT support for small and medium-sized Texas businesses can help you succeed.