Cybersecurity As An Essential Survival Tool For Law Firms

In today’s world, it is more important than ever for law firms to invest in cybersecurity tools. Cyberattacks are becoming more pervasive and much more sophisticated, and cybersecurity protocols that were effective a year ago won’t necessarily be effective today.  Small firms are particularly vulnerable because oftentimes they don’t invest in the appropriate infrastructure and can be low-hanging fruit for thieves. As a result, law firms must invest in cybersecurity to ensure that their data—and the data of their clients —are not unduly at risk. This is particularly important for firms that have clients in the healthcare space where data privacy is so critical.  Gone are the days of buying antivirus software off the shelf. To successfully fend off cyberattacks, businesses must implement comprehensive, state-of-the-art cybersecurity tools that receive regular updates on the latest threats.

The Latest Statistics on Cybersecurity Threats

If you’ve never experienced a cyberattack, it can be hard to grasp the scope of the issue. But today, cyberattacks are an everyday risk for all types of businesses—just like contract disputes and injury claims. Over a long enough period of time, these become almost inevitable. Consider these statistics from Forbes Advisor:

• Ninety-four percent of organizations have reported cybersecurity attacks (either attempted or successful) via email.
• Successful cyberattacks via email accounted for $2.7 billion in business losses in 2022.
• We have seen a 72 percent increase in data breaches since 2021.
• The average data breach costs $4.45 million.
• Data security is one of the fastest-growing industry sectors, projected to grow 32 percent between 2022 and 2032.

Making Smart Investments in Cybersecurity

Of course, investing in cybersecurity can be expensive. As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, this means that cybersecurity tools need to be more sophisticated as well—and this drives up their cost. For all businesses, the key is to balance the costs and the risks. A good way to do this is to examine your business’s cybersecurity protocols from your client, customer, or patient perspective: if you were fully aware of your business’s data protection efforts, would you be comfortable continuing to share your personal, financial and health data (as applicable)? If not, identify what would make you comfortable and make sure you implement it.

What if Things Still Go Wrong?

To be clear, investing in a robust cybersecurity platform does not guarantee that your firm will be able to avoid every attack, but such measures will undoubtedly mitigate the impacts of that attack. In the past few years, we have seen numerous well-heeled businesses experiencing major data breaches—from global banks to cell phone companies. Even the U.S. Government experienced a major cyberattack last year. If your business experiences a cyberattack, having the infrastructure in place will mitigate the impact and speed up the response time to isolate and contain the breach.  As cyber attackers become more sophisticated in their attacks, firms must correspondingly become more sophisticated in their defenses.  Without those measures in place, clients are increasingly taking their business elsewhere, given the exposure they risk from sharing confidential data with law firms that don’t have such protections in place.

Contact Velkei Law Today

At Velkei Law, we help businesses in various industries mitigate risk and defend against claims when necessary. If you have questions or concerns about your business’s data-related risk, or if you need help responding to a cybersecurity incident, we invite you to call 310-601-4626 or request a confidential consultation online today.