Recent Data Breaches Raise Cybersecurity Alarm Bells

Whether you’re dining out or watching TV at home, hackers can strike at any time. And many of the techniques used by hackers work in law firms, too.
Here’s why it’s important to stay vigilant – both in and out of the office.

What Happened

Last January, over 15,000 Australians were impacted by a series of cyber attacks on Australian brands like Guzman y Gomez, Dan Murphy’s and the Binge streaming service.

According to news sources, threat actors purchased stolen login credentials from international cyber criminals.

The threat actors then initiated a ‘credential stuffing’ campaign, which involves the use of specialist software to automatically enter different username and password combinations until a match is found.

With each successful login, the threat actors used customers’ stored credit card details to purchase new iPhones and luxury clothing.

Customers who used the same, or highly similar, passwords across multiple accounts were most likely to be victims.

How to Prepare

While the above scenario didn’t occur in the courtroom, the same can happen to your law firm.

Research shows that human error is the most common cause of successful cyber-attacks. Weak passwords, responding to scam texts and emails, and visiting suspicious websites are just some of the many errors that allow cyber-attacks to happen.

Implementing measures that prevent human-made vulnerabilities can help safeguard your firm.

Upgrade Your Firm’s Security

Dark web monitoring and cybersecurity training are two effective ways to combat cyber-attacks.

Dark web monitoring actively scans the dark web for instances of your sensitive data appearing there.

If any stolen data appears, your firm is immediately notified, and you receive advice on how to minimise damage. For example, you may be asked to change your passwords to render the stolen password unusable.

Cybersecurity training educates your staff on cybersecurity awareness. It teaches your staff how to identify suspicious activity and spot the warning signs of an attempted cyber-attack.

One way to detect email spoofing is to examine the email header for inconsistencies and spelling mistakes.

Protect Your Firm With Boab IT

As data breaches continue to affect Australians nationwide, keeping your data and accounts safe should be a high priority – especially if you operate a law firm.

Here are just a few ways that Boab IT can protect your law firm:

● Mobile device management – Remotely wipes all data from lost or stolen devices
● Domain hardening – Ensures all emails received are genuine and sent by authorized senders
● URL and DNS filtering – Stops staff from being able to access suspicious websites
● Simulated phishing emails – Tests your staff’s cybersecurity knowledge with fake phishing emails
● Server-based email filtering – Flags suspicious links and email attachments, preventing staff from opening malicious content

And more…

To find out how Boab IT can protect your firm from cyber-attacks, contact us.