Recently, reports surfaced that multiple law firms have fallen victim to data breaches, prompting class action litigation against the firms for exposing their clients' information.  Law firms house a great deal of highly sensitive client information, making it critical for the legal industry to take notice and employ every measure of protection to protect that sensitive data, as well as themselves.

Experts have warned for years that law firms are prime targets for hackers because they hold critical data on corporate deals and other sensitive client information..  The rise in hacking is a stark reminder for both law firms and their clients to assess  and reinforce cybersecurity and privacy protections currently in place.

At a minimum, all businesses should address the following issues:

1. Evaluate Your Level of Security. Consider the type of information stored in your systems and assess whether you have the correct security in place.  If not, take steps toward aligning your security with the potential threat.
2. Educate Everyone on the Threat.  Even the most protected system can be subject to a data breach, so it is important to make sure that human error does not add to your risk.  Anyone with access to sensitive information should fully understand how to properly handle that information, as well as what to do in case of a breach. 
3. Take a Test Drive.  We regularly do fire drills, earthquake drills and other emergency preparedness training.  Cyber breach drills are equally as important.  Practicing what to do in case of this kind of emergency will increase the comfort level of all involved and allows you to work out any kinks in your system.

These recent breaches demonstrate the weaknesses in our systems and provide many of us the opportunity to proactively address them.    Start by evaluating, educating, and testing today to protect your business.