Cyber Thieves Want What Your Law Firm Has

October 8, 2018

CyberCNN detailed that North Korea hackers tried to seal over $1 Billion.  And they are not the only state actor.  In addition to state sponsored cyber thefts, there are numerous groups and individuals just waiting to get at your information.  

Question you need to answer is that if you have the things that cyber criminals want, do you have insurance coverage to protect you in cases where cyber criminals take?

Information that cyber criminals want:

Payroll Account Information- Think of the data contained in your payroll accounts; names and address of all employees, their social security numbers and birth dates.  With that information a cybercriminal can mimic any of your employees and steal their identities.

Banking credentials—If a thief can figure out your banking credentials and piece them together, it gives them the ability to impersonate an authorized user on the account. Then in a matter of a minutes an IOLTA account, operating account, trust account and/or payroll account is drained.

Sensitive data of Clients and Vendors– Depending on the type of law a firm practices, the data theft may include; personal data such as dates of birth, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, credit card information, medical records, legal records, accounting records, tax records and/or other information entrusted to the organization cost the firm?  Release of this information can open up the organization to violation of HIPPA, Granm-Leach-Billey Act, or other state privacy legislation that can open up the firm to law suits for damages.

The above information that helps thieves assume someone else’s identity are valuable pieces of information. In the cyber underground, they can go for anywhere from $10 to $300 per record, depending on its value. Does your firm have any of this type of information stored on technology?  In addition client information lost will cause malpractice claims.

Client secrets-Clients products and services are valuable information and data such as: secret formulas, design specs, and well-defined processes. There is a market for this information.

Emails-In a recent blog we detailed if you have corresponded with your financial institution, clients or 3rd party vendors via e-mail the chances are that your account will eventually be used in an impersonation attempt to siphon funds from your bank account.

Access to your computer network-Using your unprotected network to launch attacks against others—perhaps one of your top clients or vendors—is a favorite technique for cyber attackers. They will expose the weakest link to their end target and literally work their way up.

When larger corporate clients and vendors visit your infected site, the malware secretly attacks that person’s computer and infects the organization. This is known as a watering hole attack. How would you handle this If you were attacked and it impacted your clients?

Your reputation-Targeted reputation damage is a serious concern for small to mid-size firms.  In fact, damaging attacks, whether data theft or destruction by rogue employees, has moved up to the third leading cause of loss according for Cyber Liability & Data Breach Insurance Claims

While L Squared Insurance agency cannot prevent these types of thief’s from occurring.  L Squared can work with you to make sure that you have the proper insurance coverage.  L Squared access to the Insurance markets to provide coverage for Cyber Liability Insurance, Crime Insurance, Business Owners Coverage and Errors & Omissions Insurance.  These insurance coverages are needed to properly protect your law firm.

Do You Have Sufficient Protection?

Ready to protect your professional career with the best malpractice insurance on the market? Contact us today and let our experienced team guide you towards peace of mind. Your success is our priority.