Law firms often pay ransoms for cyber attacks
Imagine you are a criminal hacker group looking for companies to extort ransom from after a hacker attack.
The text of an advertisement would read something like this: "We are looking for companies that have a lot of sensitive data on their servers, for whom the loss or publication of data on the darknet is particularly bad and who have not really dealt with IT systems in the past.
Who do you think would come forward? Most likely medium-sized law firms or commercial law firms.
Doubling of claims
Cyberattacks on law firms have indeed increased significantly in recent years. Unfortunately, all too often with success. To quote figures: Cases of damage have doubled annually over the last decade, but have recently leveled off at a high level.
Adventurous handling
But why are law firms in particular such popular targets for hacker attacks? While other companies can consider sitting out the attack and accepting the fact that client data appears on the darknet (unfortunately this is the case 🔥), this is not an option for many lawyers. That's why they usually have no option but to pay. Because if the client's data spreads on the darknet, their reputation is destroyed. And if the law firm doesn't pay, the clients are probably blackmailed, too.
An interesting aspect is that the negotiations are usually conducted by specialized law firms, which often negotiate the ransom down significantly. They have to be careful not to violate any laws by making the payment if the cybercriminal gang is on a sanctions list, for example.
Attack, link and more
It happens just like in any other business: it is often an email with a link that is carelessly clicked on, or a contaminated data stick that a client provides. Every law firm must therefore develop an understanding that security limits convenience. But you have to be prepared to do so.
Conclusion: Law firms would be spared a lot if they regularly scanned their IT infrastructure for exploitable security vulnerabilities and carried out appropriate awareness cyber security training for employees. The costs for this are probably peanuts compared to a ransom payment 🤷🏻♂️.
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- Targeted by cyber criminalsIf law firms fall victim to blackmail cyber attacks, the damage is particularly high. This is why ransoms are often paid. Investments in cyber security and insurance offer protection.
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