The Providence-based legal firm Moses Afonso Ryan Ltd is suing its insurer Sentinel Insurance Co for breach of contract and bad faith after it turned down its claim for lost fees over the three-month period the documents were frozen in 2016 by the ‘ransomware’ attack. The law firm said in its suit that the lost billings over the period amounted to $700,000. Following the cyber attack,  the law firm negotiated ransom to be paid in bitcoins, later re-negotiating those terms after the initial key to de-crypt its records failed to work. The firm then arranged to purchase more bitcoins in exchange for other tools to recover its documents.

Losses to economy

It has been reported that federal internet crime analysts believe American businesses and individuals suffered more than $1.6 million in losses in 2015, rising to about $2.9 million in 2016. Commentators advise law firms that they should invest in protective anti-malware and anti-virus software that automatically updates, regularly backup all information outside of the network, or offline and secure backups, They also advise that people should not click on unknown links or visit unknown sites unnecessarily.