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<i><b>Online Extra</b></i><br> Are Law Departments Letting Law Firms Off the Hook When it Comes to Cybersecurity?

By Daniella Isaacson
April 02, 2017

It is time for a reality check on cybersecurity. Our research has focused on the threat that data breaches present to law firms and law departments independently, but the interplay between cybersecurity at law firms and law departments is increasingly impossible to ignore.

Law departments: If you haven't already been doing so, monitoring law firm cybersecurity practices and ensuring compliance with your top standards is your mandate and it is critical. Since our original report over two years ago, there is little to no indication that law firm cybersecurity has meaningfully improved. That fault does not just lie with law firms.

According to our recent report on cybersecurity and law firms, law firms are failing on the most fundamental level: basic preparation. As seen in the graph below, there are three fundamental stages of data security: assessment, planning, and testing. These stages involve understanding data security needs and risk-profiling the data accordingly; implementing solutions based on needs and profile; and testing to ensure an effective response in case of breach. These stages are intrinsically interconnected. Without testing, the prior two stages of assessment and planning are rendered incomplete. Furthermore, it is important to note that the mere act of implementing a stage does not mean that there was a rigorous process involved.

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