Every day, Australian law firms deal with large quantities of sensitive data, making them prime targets for cyber crime.
A collaborative report from the Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA) and GlobalX revealed almost one in five Australian law firms have already suffered a data security breach.
Thankfully, there are strategies and practices that law firms can proactively implement to protect their systems and data and prepare for potential cyber attacks.
Let's take a look at what you can do to help protect your law firm.
People - Train your employees on how to detect and respond to cyber threats
According to the latest Notifiable Data Breaches report, 38% of all successful cyber attacks are a result of staff not being able to identify a cyber threat and not knowing how to manage them appropriately.
Cybersecurity Awareness Training for all levels of users in your organisation raises people’s vigilance on what to look for, as well as having the skills to safely take the appropriate action required if they do receive a malicious attempt.
Reputable Cybersecurity Awareness Training courses educate employees about cyber threats and attacks they may be subjected to and help them navigate through the minefield that is “cyber” and data security to ensure that they have the tools and experience to keep your organisation’s systems and data safe.
Process - Ensure Policies & Procedures are issued
Cybersecurity policies and procedures are one of the most critical tools in educating and setting expectations with your employees. They provide your people with an understanding of how to handle sensitive and personal information, safe use of company systems, and a clear process on what is required if they receive a malicious attempt.
Having policies that cover the acceptable use of IT systems, how to safely handle sensitive data and staff requirements on what they can and cannot do, all form part of this risk reduction activity.
Technology - Follow best practice guidelines
The Essential Eight is a "series of baseline mitigation strategies" recommended to organisations from the Australian Cyber Security Centre. While no single mitigation strategy can prevent cyber attacks, the following section looks into the strategies that businesses can apply to internal system security.
Broken down into three subcategories, the Essential Eight are deemed as the bare minimum strategies that all Australian organisations should implement, including:
Mitigation strategies to prevent malware delivery and execution
1. Application Whitelisting
2. Patch Applications
3. Configure Microsoft Office Macro Settings
4. User Application Hardening
Mitigation strategies to limit the extent of cybersecurity incidents
5. Restrict Administrative Privileges
6. Patch Operating Systems
7. Multi-Factor Authentication
Mitigation strategies to recover data and system availability
8. Daily backups - Ensure that a secondary copy of all of your business data is stored separately and securely which can easily be accessed and restored following the event of a cyber attack.
How Diamond IT can help improve cybersecurity in your organisation
Diamond IT's online or face-to-face Cybersecurity Awareness Training and Cybersecurity Healthcheck can have an immediate impact on the strength of your security. We can help you ensure your staff education programs are fit for purpose and align with best practice.
Our Business Technology Managers (BTMs) and Business Technology Consulting team are specialists in improving your internal cybersecurity and are ready to speak with you. Contact our team on 1300 307 907 today.
