In the course of day-to-day work, every legal professional who creates, saves and shares documents also ends up creating metadata. And almost all of them are oblivious to the security problems metadata can create or the possible consequences of a metadata breach.
Metadata can be anything from comments, timestamps, tracked changes, revision marks or document properties. It can also consist of personal information such as the document creator’s name, their company details, headers, footers, watermarks, etc. These details are important because they help to make a document findable, trackable, and reusable.
Metadata is usually not immediately visible, even to the original author. But just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist – or that it cannot be exploited. A single metadata breach can have serious consequences for your law firm. In fact, if a malicious adversary, such as a hacker or a competitor, gets their hands on your documents and underlying metadata; they can exploit the metadata to embarrass your company and damage its reputation, client base, and financial standing.
Here’s how.
Damage client relationships
As a legal professional or law firm, you manage vast quantities of sensitive data. A lot of this data is personal or financial information belonging to your clients. It is your responsibility to protect this information and ensure that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. And yet, this is exactly what can happen if you don’t remove metadata from your documents.
A hacker may access the metadata that remains in a document to uncover sensitive information about your firm and clients, such as their identities, contact details, and legal issues. They may even be able to discover the legal strategies you and your clients are planning. The exposure of such sensitive information will anger your clients. More importantly, it will erode their trust in your company, and ultimately, damage the firm’s reputation.
Loss of clients and business
If your clients don’t trust you, it’s unlikely that they would want to stay on with the firm. A metadata breach that results in the breach of highly sensitive or confidential information could lead to lost business for your law firm. More clients may leave – and possibly go to your competitors – resulting in higher client attrition and substantial financial losses.
Legal liabilities
In addition to leaving, some of your clients may also bring legal action against your company, especially if the breach resulted in the disclosure of privileged information that could embarrass or damage the client. Even if the disclosure was inadvertent, you may find yourself at the receiving end of seriously damaging malpractice claims.
Regulatory punishments
In addition to clients, regulators may hold you responsible for the breach. All over the world, regulators and lawmakers take data privacy very seriously. Firms that don’t implement appropriate measures to protect their (and their clients’) data are often punished for their lapses.
If your company suffers a metadata breach that results in the loss of customer information, you may have to pay hefty fines or other penalties. You may also have to spend a substantial amount of money on updating your cybersecurity programme.
Increased costs and financial damage
A metadata breach can be financially damaging to a law firm. You may need to conduct internal investigations and hire forensic experts to investigate the breach and determine how to prevent recurrence. You may also have to provide credit monitoring services to affected clients, if the clients or regulators demand it.
How to Avoid The Damaging Consequences of a Metadata Breach
When it comes to cybersecurity and metadata, forewarned is always forearmed. It’s easier to proactively prevent a metadata breach than to reactively deal with its fallout. And the most proactive strategy you can adopt is to implement metadata management software.
Use software to remove metadata from files before your employees share them or send them via email. Software will automate the metadata removal process so you won’t have to do it manually. Automation will ensure that all metadata is removed regularly and consistently, so even if you forget to remove it manually, you won’t suffer any adverse consequences, such as metadata falling into the wrong hands for possible exploitation. The software can be directly integrated with the company’s email client (e.g., Outlook) to protect every user and device. You can also set up alerts so users won’t make mistakes like replying to all when Bcc’d or sending emails to external/personal email addresses.
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The mention of metadata security features in document management systems and collaboration platforms is noteworthy. Integrating these tools into law firm workflows can help automatically detect and remove metadata, reducing the risk of inadvertent exposure.
The article explores various scenarios where metadata breaches can occur, including unintentional sharing of documents, inadequate redaction, and improper handling of document versions. It serves as a reminder that metadata breaches can happen both internally and externally, underscoring the importance of adopting robust security practices.