In an era where Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital tools are revolutionising industries, law firms face a delicate balancing act – effectively leveraging the benefits of technology for efficiency while safeguarding sensitive data from cyberthreats.
By Iniel Dreyer, group MD of Data Management Professionals South Africa
AI-driven tools offer immense potential, providing opportunities to improve efficiency, streamline workflows, and enhance client services.
However, they also amplify the legal sector’s vulnerability to cyberattacks by expanding the attack surface and potentially exposing sensitive client data. It has therefore become essential for law firms to bolster their cyber resilience by focusing on effective data management and adopting a proactive approach to cybersecurity.
Managing data at the heart of cyber resilience
The legal industry is particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks due to the sensitive nature of the data it handles, and it has become a lucrative target for cybercriminals. Attorney-client privilege means law firms manage highly valuable information, including confidential client data and sensitive case details that cybercriminals can exploit for blackmail or sell on the black market.
In addition, the level of cyber readiness is typically low. While many firms have adopted technology tools to streamline their operations and enhance their processes, smaller firms often remain hesitant to invest in essential cybersecurity resources. This may be due to budget constraints as well as a level of technological resistance.
However, in the face of increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats, cyber resilience has become critical. The foundation of this is data management, which is important not only for cybersecurity, but also compliance. To become cyber resilient and compliant, firms must be able to classify data accurately, identify sensitive information, and implement processes to protect that data in line with legal requirements and cybersecurity best practices.
Adopting a zero-trust model and least privileged access, where minimal access is granted based on specific roles, is essential to protect against both internal and external threats.
A proactive approach
Cyber resilience is not just about protecting the firm, but also about upholding the integrity of the legal profession. Legal practitioners have a duty to their clients to protect their information, and this duty extends to ensuring that systems are in place to prevent data breaches and mitigate the damage when breaches occur.
It has become imperative to be able to detect threats early and remediate them before they escalate. However, even with the best defences in place, it is inevitable that firms will need to recover at some point. Key to this is the ability to recover quickly, and with clean data – and this means that a dynamic approach is required to keep up with the evolving nature of cyber threats.
An effective cyber resilience strategy involves detecting a cyber event, understanding the vulnerability, and executing a recovery plan that ensures the firm can continue operating without compromising the safety of its data.
This in turn requires isolated recovery environments, which are secure environments disconnected from the compromised network. This step is critical because, in many cases, cybercriminals may have been lurking within the network for months before detection.
Rolling back to the last copy of clean data must occur in a clean environment to avoid reinfection. Firms need to take the time to recover properly, as rushing the process could lead to further compromises. For law firms, where time-sensitive litigation cases are often pending, prolonged downtime is not an option.
The pressure to recover quickly, while ensuring data is free from malware, means cyber recovery must be meticulously planned and tested regularly.
Striking a balance
There are many different productivity tools available to law firms, designed to enhance customer service and operational efficiency.
However, when introducing new software solutions, it is crucial to ensure that they integrate into the overall cybersecurity framework. This must be done carefully to avoid creating islands of information that are difficult to secure and monitor.
Many cyberattacks are still caused by compromised user credentials, making Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and strong identity management essential elements of any cybersecurity strategy.
Striking the balance between security and usability is key. Lawyers and legal staff need access to information, but it should be done within a framework that ensures the integrity of the data. Cyber resilience frameworks must evolve alongside technological advancements, ensuring that new tools and processes are secure from the outset.
Constant evolution
From the perspective of prospective targets, law firms must block every single cyberattack, whereas attackers only need to succeed once. This reality underscores the importance of having robust cyber resilience frameworks in place, which are regularly updated and tested, and constantly evolving to meet the ever-changing nature of the threat.
The fast-paced development of AI-driven tools means that new vulnerabilities are always emerging, and that means that cyber resilience is not a one-time project, but an ongoing process that requires continuous improvement.
In a world where the cost of a single cyberattack can be devastating, law firms cannot afford complacency. The legal industry must adopt a mindset that acknowledges cyber resilience as a journey, not a destination, and embrace a proactive, constantly evolving approach to both cybersecurity and data management.