• Company
    • CyberQ Group Story
    • News
  • Cyber Services
    • Managed Security Operations Centre (SOC)
    • Continuous Breach Detection Service
    • Human Reconnaissance
    • Cloud Security
    • Consultancy Services
CyberQ Group
  • What’s New In Cyber
  • Contact
  • Company
    • CyberQ Group Story
    • News
  • Cyber Services
    • Managed Security Operations Centre (SOC)
    • Continuous Breach Detection Service
    • Human Reconnaissance
    • Cloud Security
    • Consultancy Services
  • What’s New In Cyber
  • Contact

Cyber attacks on the Legal Sector

What’s New In Cyber6/7/2020 5 minutes

Shigraf Aijaz

Content Creator
Shigraf is an experienced cybersecurity journalist and is zealous of spreading knowledge regarding cyber and internet security. She has extensive knowledge in writing insightful topics for which she carries on vast and in-depth research. A creative and passionate writer, she aspires to create exemplary eye-catching content that stands out in the market.

Cyber attacks against the legal sector have long since been a matter of concern owing to a large amount of client information and money they retain. This is a particularly grave issue considering the legal sector takes strict client confidence and trust as its foundation.

A targeted cyberattack on the legal sector can prove to be damaging not only for the legal firm but its supply chain and their clients. This issue is emphasised with the upgrade in many firms to Cloud-based technology, posing new risks and a new approach to cyber security which organisations need to invest in.

Risk Assessment To A Cyber Attack

A cyberattack on the legal sector poses a significant risk to the industry, supply chain, employees and their clients. Most of the organised cybercriminals perform these attacks with financial gain as their primary motive. They may launch a ransomware attack and encrypt data and will only release when a ransom paid. But this, of course, leaves them open to future attacks. In addition to ransomware, a cyberattack, such as a phishing scam, can be used to drain a company of its finances, leaving it bankrupt

Once cybercriminals have gained access to data, such as national insurance numbers, home addresses, family history, phone numbers, and bank information (PII) they often sell it to the highest bidder on the dark web to support future criminal activities.

However, as well as financial gain, cybercriminals will use the data to exploit them further to blackmail for further information on a client or to carry out new illegal activities to gain a competitive edge.

Should a legal firm or practice be breached, they would need to consider the reputational damage. Who would want to use the services or entrust their most confidential and sensitive data with an entity that has been breached? The reputational damage would be almost irreversible and would lead to the loss of clients and in some cases, bankruptcy.

It is, therefore, crucial to have a ‘cyber-secure’ environment, specifically as client confidentiality and secrecy remains to be and will continue to be, the backbone of the industry.

Cyber Threats To The Legal Sector

Some common threats specifically target the legal sector that is as follows:

1.   Phishing Scams

Phishing scams are cyberattacks designed to gather personal information through legitimate-looking emails or websites. These scams mostly fish out usernames, credit card information, passwords and bank account information.

Criminals launch a phishing scam using realistic-looking emails or web application forms that fool the client into revealing personal information. These forms or emails are tailored explicitly, so the victim believes he is providing the data to a legitimate source.

These scams are specifically designed to target specific victims which makes them one of the most successful cyber attacks. Although they most likely occur through emails and websites, text messages, phone calls, or social media are also popular vectors of carrying out these attacks.

2. Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware is malicious software that is designed to hold information or computer systems captive unless a ransom amount is paid. Hackers either deny users access to their systems altogether or encrypt information making it inaccessible to anyone who doesn’t have the decryption key.

However, despite what it may seem, paying the ransom rarely ever guarantees that the victim may get access to the stolen data. More so, it only gives the attacker a go-sign that the victim is open to paying ransom in the future.

Ransomware attacks occur through malvertising, drive-by downloads and malicious email attachments. Attacker target and exploit vulnerabilities within a system to successfully launch a ransomware attack. These attacks are sneaky and are designed to hide while causing havoc within the system.

3. Data Breaches

Data breaches usually refer to the loss of critical information, and in the case of the legal sector, data breaches typically result in the loss of confidential client information. These data breaches are often the result of hack attacks.

These threat actors intrude into the system by exploiting vulnerabilities within it. Although hack attacks are one of the most common forms of data breaches, loss of information can also often be a mere human error.

Despite cybersecurity being a grave matter, most people remain in the dark about it. With this lack of education, these people often become the weakest chain in security, allowing hackers to manipulate and exploit them. A simple human error could mean downloading a malicious email or clicking on a malicious link that may give way to a data breach.

4. Friday Afternoon Fraud

One of the most common cybercrimes in the legal sector is the Friday Afternoon Fraud, which revolves around hacking into conveyancing transactions to divert client funds ultimately. Quite like what its name suggests, this type of cyber-attack occurs on Friday’s as this is the day most purchases are made.

Launching the attack on a Friday also gives the threat actor the weekend to blend in and avoid detection. This fraud impacts buyers and often leads to victims losing their savings and any properties they intended to buy.

Mitigating Threat Risks

With cyberattacks, prevention and maintaining a robust cybersecurity posture is one of the critical methods of remaining secure from a cyberattack.

The following precautionary steps are needed to ensure a robust cybersecurity posture:

1.  Educate employees

Employees are a crucial part of any sector. As most threat actors and cyber criminals exploit vulnerabilities within employees, it is best to make sure that they are made aware of the threats they might encounter.

Employees within the sector should know an underlying protocol to follow in case of cyber-attack detection. Apart from that, these employees should also be made aware of how to detect phishing scams and hack attacks to ensure security.

2.  Breach Detection

Data breaches are devious, and in most cases often go unnoticed, which is why it is crucial to have an established breach detection service in place. The breach detection service monitors the external environment and provides the users with a unique outlook of their online presence.

Cyber Security professionals monitor the surface along with the deep and dark web to fish out information that is handled regarding the particular company or sector.

With this, the legal sector can maintain security and further alleviate potential threats to their system while cordially managing their resources. When breach detection services are combined with human reconnaissance and a Security Operations Centre (SOC) it will provide proactive intelligent security.

3.  Partner

Ransomware and malware attacks, along with hack attacks, are one of the most havoc-wreaking cyber attacks any industry could encounter. They are devious and are hard to detect precisely when left to human detection only.

Although the legal sector tends to have an in-house IT team to monitor for threats, the evolution of cyber-attacks has made it harder to detect them. It is, therefore, crucial to partner with cybersecurity specialists that provide the latest intelligent security tools and guarantee maximum protection and security.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity within the legal sector is crucial to maintain the integrity and reputation of the industry, along with client confidentiality. The risks associated with cyber-attacks are far too high to gamble with, which is why smart cyber solutions are the key to safety and security.

It is also important to partner with a cybersecurity specialist that provides the latest advancements in global threat detection and security solutions for all industries and continually invests in its staff.

Cyber attacks Legal sector

Monthly Catch Up

Leave your comment Cancel Reply

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Next Story Why is domain Squatting a Problem and what to do about it?

CATEGORIES

  • News (24)
  • What’s New In Cyber (9)

tags

Cyber attacksLegal sector
CyberQ Group Logo White

Award Winning AI and Automated Cyber Security Services.

We Make Your Business Cyber Resilient

Get in touch

UK Office
CyberQ Group 4th Floor, Colmore Gate,
2-6 Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 2QD​

Company Number: 10507340
Tel: 0800 0614 725

Quick Links

  • Consultancy Services
  • Managed Security Operations Centre (SOC)
  • Cloud Security
  • Continuous Breach Detection Service
  • Human Reconnaissance
  • Company
  • News
  • What’s New In Cyber
  • Contact

Copyright © 2020 CyberQ Group Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy  |  Terms of service

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You can customise, opt-out or accept them as they are. Customise CookiesACCEPT
Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT