Law firms make great targets for cyber-attacks, especially because they are sinks for huge amounts of sensitive customer data that can be used for personal gain, revenge or economic advantage by unscrupulous hackers and criminals. A recent PwC report (Safeguarding Your Firm from Cyber Attacks) noted that “Privacy and confidentiality are bedrock qualities for law firms. The theft of client information could be devastating to a firm’s reputation, which is their most important asset.”
A legal firm’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) has to deal with some unique and complex challenges including:
- Protecting sensitive information related to legal transactions and cases involving mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, personally identifiable information (PII), etc
- This data is contained in every work product and also shared between people
- Clients trust law firms with their data and this sacred bond of trust cannot be broken
- The costs of non-compliance with audit and regulatory policies are very high (lost revenue, damaged reputations) and often irreversible
So when sensitive client matters are the ‘currency’ that keeps them afloat, how can law firms secure their networks and protect their clients’ data? According to Deloitte, the firm’s CISO has a critical leadership role to play in devising and delivering a security strategy that:
- Protects the firm and its clients’ data
- Monitors the firm for security threats (both internal and external)
- Prevents employees from acting outside the firm’s security policies and guidelines
In short, the legal CISO has to effectively and proactively protect sensitive client data, ensure 100% compliance and keep the business operating smoothly.
iManage and Workshare have combined their decades of experience to create a comprehensive solution that protects legal work products and simplifies security challenges for the legal CISO. It also offers the following advantages:
- Application of companywide security policies across the IT infrastructure to protect matter files throughout their lifecycle
- Neutralises the risk of human errors (such as misaddressed email) and prevents data loss
- Prevents unauthorised access by ensuring that clients’ data is only shared on a ‘need-to-know basis
- Centralised polices can be quickly updated, cascaded and controlled throughout the firm
- Accurate reports to proactively identify abnormal actions and mitigate their effects
This pre-integrated solution has been developed specifically for the legal industry and addresses the major security concerns of a Legal CISO with proactive policy-driven security and threat management capabilities.
