Cyber Insurance & Security In Law Firms: A Broker's Guide
As the legal industry continues to digitize, an increased emphasis has been placed on ensuring the safety and security of confidential client data. Unfortunately, the sensitive nature of this data makes law firms a target for cybercriminals.
According to the 2019 American Bar Association's Cybersecurity Tech Report, 26% of law firms experienced a form of data breach. In order to protect your clients, you must know the various cyber security threats that they face. By understanding the risks, you can help mitigate them.
In this blog post, we will explore the various cyber threats to law firms, how your clients can protect themselves against these threats, and tips to sell coverage to them.
Top 3 Cyber Threats to Law Firms
Hackers know law firms can possess information, such as trade secrets, merger and acquisition details, personally identifiable information (PII), and confidential attorney-client-privileged data. With valuable information and data such as this, cybercriminals use various methods to attack.
Here are the top 3 threats to law firms :
1. Phishing
Like many of us, lawyers often use their emails account to connect to various accounts and platforms. From online file storage tools like dropbox or file scanners and more hackers have many points to exploit, and they're becoming more and more creative. Hackers can simulate sign-in screens with really impressive accuracy. Therefore, it's imperative that legal firms safeguard themselves by encouraging their team to use two-factor authentication and strong credentials.
2. Ransomware
There have been a number of high-profile attacks on law firms, including the MAZE ransomware attack that threatened to leak data if the ransom wasn’t paid and the October 2020 attack on Chicago law firm Seyfarth Shaw. Ransomware is one of the most prevalent cybersecurity concerns and can take many forms. However, the underlying premise is always the same: it gains access to your device—usually through an unwitting click on a malicious link or the download of an infected file—and then uses threats, hostage-taking, or scare tactics to extort payment from you.
3. Data Breach
Data breaches not only can they damage the firm's reputation, but they can also lead to the loss of clients and dangerous repercussions from confidential data. In many cases, data breaches lead to financial liabilities for the firm. For example, one of the most famous data breaches in recent history occurred at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. In 2009, the firm was the victim of a phishing attack that resulted in the loss of over 1,000 client files. However, the breach caused significant damage to the firm's reputation and resulted in the loss of several clients.
Selling Cyber Insurance to Law Firms
Education is the key to successful selling. As a broker, it is essential to have a broad and industry-specific understanding of cybersecurity threats in order to gain a potential client's confidence and trust. It's also essential that you educate your clients and make them aware of why they need to invest in cyber insurance and various cyber risks. So, we've come up with a few helpful tips you can use to sell cyber insurance to law firms:
- Educate your potential clients on the risk and potential costs related to their industry
- Tailor your pitch for every client.
- Offer cybersecurity to limit risk and improve security posture with 1Fort
- Maintain communication with prospective and new clients
- Stay informed of the changing world of cybersecurity and the growing list of common threats
Get Protected Today
Law firms have a responsibility to protect their clients' information. If criminals manage to break through the firm's security walls, the consequences can be serious—from uncomfortable conversations with their clients to major legal problems. With 1Fort, you can offer your law firm client an easier way to get insurable while actively lowering their cyber risk. Become a 1Fort partner today!
