While all industries that handle valuable data have been subject to increasing levels of cyber
attack, there is a set of inter-related factors in the law firm cyber security ecosystem that
makes such firms more susceptible to attack and also serves to prevent them from taking
action to counteract attack vulnerability. As a result of the inter-related external and internal
factors affecting law firm cyber security, the human element of firm security infrastructure
has been neglected, thereby making humans, at once law firms’ greatest asset,
their main cyber security weakness. 1There has been some movement of late, and regulators
and clients alike are right to demand law firms do more to improve their cyber security
posture.2 However, much of the scrutiny to which their conduct has been subjected has
tended to overlook the complexities of the law firm cyber security quagmire, and unless
these issues are addressed in the context of a potential solution, meaningful change is not While all industries that handle valuable data have been subject to increasing levels of cyber
attack, there is a set of inter-related factors in the law firm cyber security ecosystem that
makes such firms more susceptible to attack and also serves to prevent them from taking
action to counteract attack vulnerability. As a result of the inter-related external and internal
factors affecting law firm cyber security, the human element of firm security infrastructure
has been neglected, thereby making humans, at once law firms’ greatest asset,
their main cyber security weakness. 1There has been some movement of late, and regulators
and clients alike are right to demand law firms do more to improve their cyber security
posture.2 However, much of the scrutiny to which their conduct has been subjected has
tended to overlook the complexities of the law firm cyber security quagmire, and unless
these issues are addressed in the context of a potential solution, meaningful change is not While all industries that handle valuable data have been subject to increasing levels of cyber
attack, there is a set of inter-related factors in the law firm cyber security ecosystem that
makes such firms more susceptible to attack and also serves to prevent them from taking
action to counteract attack vulnerability. As a result of the inter-related external and internal
factors affecting law firm cyber security, the human element of firm security infrastructure
has been neglected, thereby making humans, at once law firms’ greatest asset,
their main cyber security weakness. 1There has been some movement of late, and regulators
and clients alike are right to demand law firms do more to improve their cyber security
posture.2 However, much of the scrutiny to which their conduct has been subjected has
tended to overlook the complexities of the law firm cyber security quagmire, and unless
these issues are addressed in the context of a potential solution, meaningful change is not likely. Part 1 of this paper outlines the current threat landscape and details the integral
role of human error in successful cyber breaches before turning to discuss recent cyber security
incidents involving law firms. In Part 2, we analyse elements of law firm short-termism
and the underregulation of law firm cyber security conduct and how these, when combined,
play a key role in shaping law firm cyber security posture. Finally, in Part 3 we outline a
realistic solution, incorporating principles from behavioural science and modern technological
developments.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:21216 |
| Date | 14 May 2018 |
| Creators | O'Donovan, David, Marshakova, Alexandra |
| Publisher | Universität Leipzig, University of Miami |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa2-212110, qucosa:21211 |
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