Small Law Office Cybersecurity
There are two primary reasons why you need to start taking your law firm’s cybersecurity seriously:
- The Threat Is Real: Legal firms were cybercriminals’ top choice for ransomware targets in the first quarter of 2019.
- You’re A Target: Just because you’re a small firm doesn’t mean you aren’t a target. 43% of all breaches involved small businesses in 2019.
The bottom line is that you can’t afford to assume that you’re safe from cybercrime – you need to know for sure, by investing in the right cybersecurity defenses…
What Does The Average Law Firm Cybersecurity Include?
According to the ABA Legal Technology Report, legal firms use a range of cybersecurity measures at varying rates:
- Spam filters – 87%
- Anti-spyware – 80%
- Firewall software – 79%
- Pop-up blockers – 75%
- Desktop and laptop virus scanning – 73%
- Email virus scanning – 69%
- Mandatory passwords – 68%
- Network virus scanning – 66%
- Hardware firewalls – 57%
Less than half of surveyed firms use security measures such as file encryption (46 percent), file access restriction (41 percent), email encryption (38 percent), intrusion detection (34 percent), intrusion prevention (33 percent).
What Should Your Law Firm Cybersecurity Include?
- Anti-virus & Firewalls
Antivirus software is used in conjunction with a firewall to provide defense against malware, adware, and spyware. Each of these cybercriminal tactics has the potential to do immense damage to internal processes and a company’s reputation. The job of antivirus software is to spot, block, and isolate intrusive, malicious applications so they can’t do damage to your data and legitimate software.Antivirus is installed to protect at the user level, known as endpoint protection, and is designed to detect and block a virus or malware from taking root on a user’s computer, or worse, accessing a network to which the user is connected.
Your firewall is your first line of defense for keeping your information safe. A firewall is a particular type of solution that maintains the security of your network. It blocks unauthorized users from gaining access to your data. Firewalls are deployed via hardware, software, or a combination of the two.
- Two-Factor Authentication
Two-Factor Authentication is a great way to add an extra layer of protection to the existing system and account logins. By requiring a second piece of information like a randomly-generated numerical code sent by text message, you’re better able to make sure that the person using your employee’s login credentials is actually who they say they are. Biometrics like fingerprints, voice, or even iris scans are also options, as are physical objects like keycards.
- Encryption
In layman’s terms, encrypted data is formatted in a secret code that would be meaningless if intercepted. It is one of the most efficient ways to secure a database given that decryption can only occur through a key, which is essentially a “secret password”. In this case, there is a need for updated encryption software to make sure that private information is only accessible through the database program.
- Update & Patch Management
Software updates are not only to improve the functionality of the software; they also serve as a patch for recently identified vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. Your IT company can handle the management of these updates to make sure that not a single one is ever skipped or delayed.
- Verify And Test Your Backups
If you want your desktop files backed up, it’s your responsibility to make sure your cloud is doing so automatically. You must have a backup copy of your data if it’s stolen or accidentally deleted.Develop a Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery policy that specifies…
- What data is backed up
- How often it’s backed up
- Where it’s stored
- Who has access to the backups
Backup to both an external drive in your office and a remote, secure, online data center. Set backups to occur automatically. And make sure your backup systems are encrypted.
There you have it – everything you need to do to make sure your data is protected. Now that you know what you need, you won’t have a problem researching, purchasing, installing and maintaining these solutions, right?
… well, maybe. It’s understandable if you don’t think you have the time or knowledge to handle this on your own. That’s why you can get an IT company like Essential Solutions to do it for you. We’ll take care of it, so you can know you’re secure and focus on your work
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