Don’t let your firm become the next target

As many of us know by now, remote working has become part of everyday life and has certainly brought advantages to many practices, however it continues to leave firms, especially SME firms vulnerable to various cyber-attacks. One of the main threats being phishing attacks.

All that is needed for a successful attack is for the hacker to be in the right place at the right time.

With remote working taking place, there is less control with how your team operates and as a result more opportunities for attacks to arise, only one mistake needs to take place for a hacker to be able to infiltrate your system.

How to help your firm

Understand the Damage

When a cyber-attack happens, the damage that is caused can be costly, and at times irreversible. Law firms are one of the most vulnerable practices to hackers, and the damage done can not only affect your firm but also your clients. Some of the damage that can occur includes, loss of confidential data, theft from clients, identity fraud, expensive costs to recover anything and a massive hit on your firm’s reputation.

Being aware of the damage can help your team understand the importance of carrying out careful practice, even when they are working from home.

Know the Signs

Work within a law firm can quickly become chaotic and busy, with numerous back and forth between different people. Being less observant and diligent when responding to emails is bound to happen at some point, and that is what a hacker is counting on. Additionally, knowing the difference between a legitimate email and a phishing attempt grows harder every day, as many of the attackers are becoming aware of the unsuccessful tactic’s and replacing them with new and sophisticated emails that look more authentic.

Spotting the small signs of a phishing attack can save your firm from a world of trouble. Keep an eye out for the tell-tale signs such as incorrect wording, unfamiliar tones, email and website spoofing, malicious links and attachments, urgent subjects and calls to action and many more.

Take Action

Understanding that prevention is better than treatment is pivotal for your firm and can help keep unfortunate phishing attacks under control. There are numerous ways for your firm to stay safe and contacting a specialist legal IT provider such as Accesspoint will be the best first step. We help set your firm up with added layers of defence, as well as to conduct extensive penetration testing and phishing awareness training. Our team constantly thinks of new ways to stay ahead of cyber-criminals, and one of the ways we see many firms going into is legal platforms.

This can help reduce email correspondence altogether and keep communication amongst the firm and between clients within a secure hub that is guarded against unauthorised access. Acting fast and taking action can help your firm stay safe.