Hackers are Targeting Legal Offices — Is Yours Prepared?

Due to the plethora of sensitive information they handle, law firms have always been in the crosshairs of hackers. They process confidential client data, much of which can be used for extortion purposes or even insider trading. In some cases, information held by firms handling major lawsuits could be worth huge sums of money to their opponents. And law firms may have access to financial accounts tied to substantial amounts of client monies.

All of the above make legal practices a juicy target for cybercriminals. Yet in spite of this, many law firms don’t have sophisticated cyber security in place. And the world of law is a deadline-oriented one, so the pressure to keep IT systems up and running is significant. For this reason, many firms want to avoid downtime and will bypass routine maintenance and updates to avoid it. This article will take a closer look at emerging cyber threats targeting legal offices and how law firms can protect themselves — and their clients’ data — from harm.

How Hackers are Targeting Law Firms — Emerging Threats in the Cyber Landscape

Not only do law firms handle a lot of confidential information, but many smaller practices do not have the right in-house IT support to keep them protected from evolving cyberthreats. Hackers are targeting legal firms in a number of ways, including:

GootLoader Campaigns

GootLoader software is a relative newcomer to the cyber landscape. It comes in the form of an initial access stealth program — malware that gets into a law office’s computer system to infect it with malware such as ransomware or other lethal varieties. With GootLoader, an unsuspecting victim is tricked into visiting a legitimate business website that GootLoader has compromised. Through search engine poisoning, GootLoader pushes these sites to the top of search engine results, making them more likely to be clicked upon. There are estimated to be more than 100K of these malicious pages that span all industries. 

Zero Day Exploits

Zero Day exploits are vulnerabilities or weaknesses inherent in software in which the software vendor has not released a security patch or update. They offer hackers an exceedingly short window of opportunity, however, so they are increasingly choosing law firms and accounting firms to get the most bang for their efforts.

Files Corrupted with Malicious Code

Because of the high number of documents received digitally by law firms every day, a file carrying a malicious payload is more likely to slip by cyber defenses. Corrupted files can be used to deploy ransomware or any number of malicious software.

What Can Your Firm Do to Stay Protected?

Fortunately, there are many things your law firms can do to limit weaknesses and vulnerabilities:

• Switch to a zero-trust model that combines detection-based techniques; good cyber hygiene and employee education; plus access control, remote monitoring, and other protocols. 
• Consider remote browser isolation to keep potentially harmful websites and web content from reaching network endpoints.
• Sanitize incoming files in a cloud environment to keep malware or other weaponized attachments from downloading into user devices.
• Restrict lateral movement in your network by employing microsegmentation to reduce the risk of breaches perpetrated by insiders with malicious intent.
• Use multifactor user authentication protocols and access controls to properly identify and authenticate users.
• Compile and deploy cyber security policies that cover every aspect of network security and ensure that all end users understand — and comply with — good cyber security best practices. 

If your firm has no — or limited — in-house IT support, consider partnering with a third party specialist to ensure you have leading-edge cyber security to keep abreast of evolving threats.

Trust Blue Technologies with Your Cyber Security Needs

At Blue Technologies, we understand how difficult it is for many businesses — including law firms — to stay ahead of cybercriminals. Threats are evolving at an alarming rate and to stay protected your organization must have access to leading-edge technology.

Our team of cyber security professionals has the right combination of industry knowledge and up-to-date technology and resources to keep your firm’s data safer from theft and loss, even in this era of escalating cyberattacks and data breaches. From initial assessment to plan creation and deployment, our team will help ensure your staff can work efficiently, effectively, and securely. 

Deter cybercriminals and keep firm — and client — data secure. Contact a Blue Technologies consultant and discover how our cyber security experts can help keep your firm safer today.