US law firm Foley & Lardner was the victim of a cybersecurity incident this month, it has been reported by Bloomberg. However, the firm says that whilst there was disruption to its IT systems, there was no unauthorised access to client data.  Jill Schachner Chanen, external communications manager at Foley & Lardner, told Bloomberg Law:  'We have security safeguards in place designed to protect our systems and data and have confirmed no unauthorised access to client data.' 

Prime target

Earlier high-profile law firms experiencing cyber breaches include the Mossack Fonseca data breach and the DLA Piper ransomware attack. A report recently found that law firms were a prime target for cyber attackers due to the sensitive client information and funds they manage. The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said the level of cyber risk faced could be greater for firms that advise sensitive or controversial clients. There is also a growing threat to firms working in hostile environments.

Economic advantage

The report also said that governments were likely to play an increasingly significant role in cyber-attacks as they seek to gain the strategic and economic advantage. At the same time, the report stated that there is a growing threat from “hacktivists” who target law firms to achieve political, economic or ideological ends. In 2018, three of the most significant cyber threats are phishing, data breaches and ransomware.