Securely transforming your law firm for efficient and compliant practice in a digital world
What are you obliged to do?
The SRA information and cybersecurity rules expect firms to be able to “Review and assess cyber risks and level of exposure to cybercrime”.
Why is this necessary?
The digital world and your reliance upon it as a legal practice is ever-growing; the sensitivity of the data you hold, the importance of the communications you process and the value of the monies you handle make law firms an incredibly attractive target for criminals.
It is therefore integral to constantly review and assess cyber risks and your level of exposure to the various forms of, and the growing threat from, cybercrime.
As commonly seen among property law firms and conveyancers alike, the level of sophistication that cybercriminals are employing in their tactics has evolved to the level of targeting practices on days when they know they will busiest – such as on a Friday preceding a bank holiday – when they are likely to be pressured around exchanges and completions. An example of such an attack can be as simple as a well-timed email containing bank details, which dupe the practice into sending a deposit payment to the cyber criminal’s bank account.
Also, with SRA’s rules constantly evolving and changing with the growing technologically-based operations of law firms, it is essential to maintain a grasp on the threats to your practice. At the same time, you must be certain you have adequate policies, technical controls and awareness among your teams to best defend against threats. Such risk assessments will help to ensure that you are not only protected against a potentially costly loss but, importantly, remain compliant to the SRA rules and in turn the law (within The Solicitors Act 1974).
How do I conduct a cybersecurity risk assessment in my legal practice?
As a practice that likely outsources IT to a third party, you should ensure that your current IT company are strategically aligned with the way you do business. You should expect them to know and understand the SRA regulations and the law by which you are obliged to abide by. This is, however, unfortunately, not the case for the majority of IT companies – few will even recognise the SRA let alone comprehend their rulings. So, how can they be best placed to support you in getting ahead of your compliance requirements?
The right IT partner should help you to navigate the following three key pillars of best cyber practice (which must be embedded within your organisation to a high standard and keep you compliant and protected):
Technical defences
Your technical defences must be set up, configured to best practices and maintained – keeping software and hardware as up-to-date versions. Such defences include Firewalls, Anti-Malware software, and password management, along with other controls (such as privilege-based user access controls; among other belt and braces components) needed to protect what has access into, and, in some cases more importantly, out of, your network.
Policies and Procedures
Other essential security measures are the policies and procedures you have in place. Do your staff know what rules they are bound by when using your IT and handling data? Is what is written into your policy documents enforced in the technical controls you have implemented?
Your policies and technical controls must align to ensure that your people can use technology effectively while handling data and completing process compliantly. Such rules could include secure password policies, for example, which are vital to keeping your staff working with a security-first mindset and therefore accountable for their actions.
Awareness and education
Does your team have the awareness and education to detect and avoid a cyber threat? Have your staff got the ability to flag and report a problem without running the risk of being blamed? The education of your team is integral to mitigating the risk cybercrime poses to your firm; there is no value in the technical controls and policies you have implemented if your team has little awareness and ability to detect and prevent threats.
It is also important to remember that should a team member (whether inadvertently, unknowingly, or knowingly) make a mistake to a cyber criminal’s advantage, or identify a possible breach, they will not be judged or blamed, but instead be offered the support and extended training required to ensure it never happens again. The SRA expect firms to encourage staff involvement in spotting and tackling potential threats in a “no-blame culture”.
The SRA highly recommend that firms consider implementing the UK Government’s flagship cybersecurity certification assessment, Cyber Essentials Plus, as a way of ensuring your practice stays on top of cybersecurity threats and best practices.
It is not uncommon for the best practices, controls, policies, and education implemented in a firm to be superseded, forgotten or ignored months down the line. Having the annual commitment and external thorough independent assessment included within the Cyber Essentials Plus programme forces firms to maintain a progressive and proactive approach to keeping up with evolving cyber threats and defences.
A technology partner that understands your compliance obligations and can better help secure your business
Our mission, as a strategically aligned IT partner to the legal sector, is to provide you with peace of mind in knowing that you are protected against potentially costly and damaging threats of cybercrime while keeping your practice compliant with SRA guidelines.
Our partnership with experts in your sector, combined with keeping ourselves plugged into developments in technology, ensures that, as your IT provider, we keep your firm at the forefront of innovation.
Would you like to assess the threats to your law firm?
If you are actively considering how to tackle the threats to your firm, need to get prepared for an SRA ‘Stress Test’, wish to implement Cyber Essentials, or are simply seeking a more strategically aligned partner for IT, we can help. We, at Exi-Go, are the experienced IT company you need to help prepare your defences against any possible cyber threat, who also have knowledge of your legal systems and understand your working practices.
Please make contact with our team today to organise a free, no commitment discovery call to learn about your possible threats and our proactive approach to help you get ahead of them.
Contact us for more information on 0203 096 2220 or hello@Exi-Go.com
