2024 Law Firm Data Security Guide: How to Keep Your Law Firm Secure

Legislation agency information safety ought to be a high precedence for any follow, and right here’s why: Purchasers belief you with their most confidential info.

Since shoppers entrust legal professionals with a lot of their delicate information, regulation corporations make prime targets for cybercrime. In line with the 2023 ABA Cybersecurity TechReport, 29% of regulation corporations skilled a type of safety breach. You don’t need your regulation agency to turn out to be a part of that statistic.

And, whereas legal professionals are more and more harnessing synthetic intelligence (AI) to assist them work extra effectively, cybercriminals are additionally utilizing AI to reinforce the dimensions, energy, and creation of cybercrime threats like AI-assisted hacking, password cracking, and ransomware assaults.

So how do you mitigate your agency’s threat of knowledge breaches and preserve your shoppers’ information as safe as doable? As a authorized skilled, it’s essential to remain updated with the newest authorized expertise. However, with expertise continually evolving, the place do you begin?

Right here, we’ll define the basics of regulation agency information safety in 2024. Learn on for an summary of some greatest practices for preserving your agency’s information safe, a abstract of your moral and regulatory obligations with regards to tech, a take a look at the dangers and rewards of cloud-based authorized software program, and assets that may assist level-up the info safety at your regulation agency.

Legislation Agency Knowledge Safety 101

Let’s begin with the fundamentals. These are the important issues that you must learn about regulation agency information safety in 2024.

What’s a regulation agency’s information safety threat?

Failing to maintain information safe is extra than simply an enormous threat for you and your agency. Knowledge safety failures may also have extremely damaging penalties on your shoppers.

To hackers and criminals, regulation corporations are remarkably attention-grabbing. Useful info—like commerce secrets and techniques, mental property, merger and acquisition particulars, personally identifiable info (PII), and confidential attorney-client-privileged information—attracts the ill-intentioned to your agency.

Regardless of these dangers, regulation corporations are obligated to guard their shoppers’ info. If criminals penetrate your agency’s safety, the results may be intensive—starting from minor embarrassments to severe authorized points, together with:

Compromised communications as a result of phished or compromised e mail accounts
Incapacity to entry agency info as a result of ransomware (i.e., the place hackers encrypt information and demand cash to revive entry)
Public leaks of non-public or enterprise info (e.g., on social media)
Lack of public and consumer belief in your agency
Malpractice allegations and lawsuits

What are your moral and regulatory obligations?

Ethically (and professionally), it’s your obligation to guard consumer information and to reveal your error if a breach does happen.

In line with the American Bar Affiliation (ABA) Rule 1.6: Confidentiality of Data, legal professionals ought to “make cheap efforts to forestall the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized entry to, info regarding the illustration of a consumer.”

Moreover, the ABA has additionally launched a number of ethics opinions (akin to Securing Communication of Protected Consumer Data and Legal professionals’ Obligations After an Digital Knowledge Breach or Cyberattack) that present steering for legal professionals on the way to deal with cybersecurity.

To adjust to the obligations of the American Bar Affiliation, you have to make cheap efforts to guard your regulation agency’s information—this might imply implementing a cybersecurity plan, securing your cellular units, enhancing communication practices by way of e mail, and vetting authorized tech suppliers.

It’s additionally essential to contemplate these moral tasks and greatest practices when including authorized expertise to your agency’s toolkit. In lots of instances, authorized expertise may also help you meet your regulatory obligations by higher defending your information, and subsequently consumer information, through streamlined processes (with much less room for handbook error), enhanced safety infrastructure, and encryption.

HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, SHIELD, and state-specific breach notification legal guidelines

Knowledge safety legal guidelines can differ with location. It’s your agency’s accountability to know your authorized tasks within the occasion of a breach.

HIPAA: The Well being Insurance coverage Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal regulation that requires healthcare suppliers and “enterprise associates” to guard protected well being info (PHI) from inadvertent disclosure. Since regulation corporations are thought-about enterprise associates, they have to adjust to HIPAA when dealing with PHI on behalf of their shoppers. Take a look at our weblog submit on understanding HIPAA compliance for extra info.
GDPR: To assist deal with world wants for enhanced information safety, in 2018, Europe launched a unified information safety regulation, the Common Knowledge Safety Rules (GDPR). GDPR—which strives to unify the regulatory atmosphere for companies dealing with private information—requires enhanced safety of non-public information belonging to EU people. Whereas GDPR at the moment applies to corporations in Europe, its rules might have an effect on your agency, as many states are starting to implement new GDPR-inspired statutes in 2023. So, it might be a good suggestion to be taught extra about GDPR.
CCPA: In 2018, the state of California enacted the California Shopper Privateness Act (CCPA), which got here into impact in 2020. The CCPA strives to reflect the GDPR and requires enhanced safety of non-public information for California residents. In 2023, an modification to the CCPA, Proposition 24, the CPRA, got here into impact. The CCPA, as amended, offers California customers further privateness protections.
SHIELD: Equally, New York has launched the Cease Hacks and Enhance Digital Knowledge Safety Act (SHIELD Act), which introduces a requirement for firms to develop, implement, and preserve “cheap safeguards to guard the safety, confidentiality, and integrity of personal info” of New York residents. The SHIELD Act additionally enhanced New York’s present information breach notification requirement (already one of many strictest in america).

Study extra about state-specific information breach notification necessities.

What to do in case your regulation agency is hacked

In fact, nobody desires to imagine their regulation agency might be hacked. Sadly, due to the dear paperwork legal professionals preserve available, regulation corporations are prime targets. Hackers may intend to steal your shoppers’ information to promote it to 3rd events. Or, in rarer instances, they may choose to carry the data hostage till a ransom is paid.

Your agency ought to have an incident response plan (IRP) for these conditions, although, hopefully, you’ll by no means have to make use of it. Under is an efficient start line with regards to creating an IRP guidelines:

Comprise the harm and start any restoration protocol
Join with an information breach knowledgeable
Notify your insurance coverage supplier (and for those who don’t have already got cyber safety insurance coverage, take a look at our submit on cyber safety insurance coverage for regulation corporations)
Report the incident to regulation enforcement
Guarantee all third events are notified
Make compliance a high precedence

It’s essential to overview and replace your IRP plan repeatedly to keep away from making a foul state of affairs worse. You possibly can run your guidelines by an IT guide as they could have further suggestions.

11 Finest practices for shielding your regulation agency’s information

There’s nobody strategy to lock down your regulation agency’s information. As a substitute, think about a protection in depth for information safety that employs quite a few checks and takes benefit of the newest authorized tech. Mac customers can begin with these safety ideas; then, for no matter techniques you utilize, think about these greatest practices on your agency’s safety.

1. Create and implement an information safety coverage at your agency

A shocking majority of safety points start with easy person error—not tech failures.

Make a transparent, easy-to-follow plan for information safety and share it with everybody at your agency.
Educate staff and implement procedures akin to utilizing two-factor authentication for logins, solely utilizing apps vetted by the agency, or a Carry Your Personal Gadget (BYOD) coverage for workers utilizing their very own units.

2. Repeatedly practice workers on mitigating information threat

Don’t assume that everybody is aware of the way to spot and keep away from a phishing e mail—open a dialogue and proceed to coach staff to keep away from unintentional person errors and promote regulation agency information safety greatest practices. As a part of your regulation agency’s cybersecurity protocols, require coaching upon rent and periodically (often annually) thereafter.

Assets like information privateness CLEs may also assist your agency perceive dangers and implement options to manage them.

3. Use robust passwords

At all times. Is your password easy and guessable, like your daughter’s birthday or—please, no—“123456”? Do you utilize the identical password for each login? If that’s the case, you would be setting your self up as a simple goal for hackers.

Create higher passwords: For elevated password safety, go for one thing complicated and lengthy. Use a password administration software to assist guarantee passwords stay safe and simplify password administration (no extra having to memorize or write them down—please don’t try this final one).
Implement robust password guidelines: Some authorized tech software program, like Clio, characteristic password coverage settings that preserve your passwords in line by requiring robust passwords.

4. Encrypt, encrypt, encrypt

By no means overlook this comparatively easy and extremely efficient measure. Encryption interprets your information—whether or not saved in an e mail, a neighborhood laborious drive, an web browser, or a cloud utility—right into a secret code, which then requires a key or password to entry it.

Hold a watch out for purposes that may maintain encryption for you. For instance, Clio applies in-transit and at-rest encryption utilizing {industry} greatest practices (akin to HTTPS and TLS) to make sure your agency’s information is saved and transmitted securely. Clio’s net interfaces are additionally verified by DigiCert, a trusted certificates authority.

5. Safe your communications

One of many major methods for hackers to intercept your information is in your communications. As a part of your agency’s information safety plan, overview any vulnerabilities throughout your communication channels and look to mitigate them.

For instance, you possibly can encrypt your agency’s emails (Trustifi, which integrates with Clio, for instance, presents an e mail encryption safety answer.) You might also need to look into communication apps like Sign, which supply end-to-end encryption throughout a number of messaging strategies.

6. Take into account entry management

Everybody in your workers doesn’t have to know all the pieces. Be intentional when contemplating granting permission to view particular issues. Remember to implement the rules of Least Privilege and Have to Know.

7. Conduct common critiques

It’s straightforward to miss weaknesses in your regulation agency’s information safety for those who don’t take the time to overview it. Conduct common audits (you would construct this schedule into your agency’s information safety coverage) to establish and deal with regulation agency cybersecurity and information dangers—issues like guaranteeing former staff not have entry to authorized information or guaranteeing controls akin to anti-virus software program and firewalls are working successfully.

If you happen to’re desirous to take your regulation agency’s information safety and privateness to the subsequent degree, think about information privateness certifications. Applications like ISO 27001 certification for regulation corporations can’t solely guarantee you could have enough protocols in place however are additionally engaging to present and potential shoppers.

8. Vet distributors fastidiously

Whereas information safety finally falls beneath the moral accountability of legal professionals, authorized expertise can positively assist make this simpler (or tougher). To make sure your supplier will do you extra good than hurt along with your information, fastidiously vet potential distributors. We advocate utilizing Clio’s Cloud Computing Due Diligence Guidelines.

9. Plan for the worst

As a lot as you hope to keep away from (and actively mitigate the chance of) information breaches, that you must know what you’ll do if it does occur—earlier than it occurs.

Create a plan for what to do within the occasion of an information breach: Element what must be accomplished instantly when it comes to communication, altering passwords, and reporting (to impacted people or regulatory authorities) if there may be unauthorized entry to your information. The plan must also specify what your agency ought to do if a malpractice declare is filed. Additionally, think about together with any steering supplied by the ABA regarding your moral obligations.
Check the plan: Knowledge breaches shouldn’t be left as much as theoreticals within the occasion of a difficulty.

You must also put together for what to do within the occasion of a catastrophe to make sure your regulation agency can proceed to function successfully.

Create a catastrophe restoration/enterprise continuity plan: Embody issues for objects akin to defining important techniques and tools, figuring out applicable instruments/procedures (i.e. backups, distant websites, cloud suppliers, and so on.), and creating communication plans. Additionally, think about any steering supplied by the ABA (akin to Moral obligations to shoppers within the wake of a catastrophe).
Check the plan: Discover out what works (and what doesn’t)!

10. Bump up your regulation agency’s cellular safety

With increasingly more authorized work accomplished remotely, there’s more and more a necessity for cellular regulation agency information safety. Safe cellular apps take a number of the heavy lifting out of the method (for instance, Clio’s cellular app for legal professionals permits you to entry your agency from anyplace), however your smartphone and laptop computer, usually, may additionally want a safety makeover.

Safe your cellphone, laptop computer, and different cellular units with steps like:

Allow encryption

Whereas having a lock-screen password in your laptops and cellular units is a primary (important) safety measure, it received’t shield your information if somebody will get a maintain of your password. Allow encryption in your cellular units to scramble delicate information for unauthorized customers and to boost safety.

Right here’s the way to encrypt your iPhone or your Android system.

Arrange two-factor authentication

Regardless of how robust your password is, it could possibly nonetheless be hacked. Including two-factor authentication—which requires your password (the primary issue) and a brief code despatched to a different system (the second issue)—makes it that rather more tough for somebody to entry your system. In follow, two-factor authentication often requires the particular person logging in to confirm their identification by way of the usage of their cellular.

Discover ways to arrange two-factor authentication on your Clio account.

Backup agency information to safe servers

Whether or not you lose your system otherwise you’re the goal of a ransomware assault, it’s good to repeatedly again up your agency information to a safe, encrypted location so that you’ll nonetheless be capable to entry most of your information.

One of many advantages of utilizing cloud-based software program is that backups are taken care of for you (extra on this under) and assist any incident response and/or enterprise continuity plans you develop.

Hold skilled and personal accounts separate

Don’t threat mixing confidential skilled communications with private ones. Through the use of devoted apps on your skilled work, you possibly can preserve these two worlds aside.

Have a plan for misplaced or stolen cellular units

If you happen to lose (or somebody steals) your smartphone, what’s the very first thing you’ll do?

From having a strategy to find a lacking system (like Discover My Assist for Apple units or Google’s Discover Your Telephone), to realizing the way to droop service or disable your system remotely, it’s essential to make an motion plan earlier than you want it.

Be sure to have full disc encryption in your laptop computer as effectively so you possibly can know your information received’t be compromised in case your laptop computer is stolen or misplaced.

11. Prepare your shoppers

Purchasers don’t know their actions aren’t safe. But, regulation corporations bear the chance of shoppers exposing particulars, like banking info, to rip-off artists. To stop this threat from blowing up into belief account errors and cost disputes, legal professionals want to coach their shoppers, from their preliminary dialog, on what strategies of communication are most safe and the way to use them.

A consumer ought to, as a part of retention, be taught:

Who to anticipate will likely be contacting them
What strategies of communication will likely be used between lawyer and consumer
What steps are shoppers anticipated to take to assist protect confidentiality
Find out how to report something that deviates from this mentioned coaching

Because of this a regulation agency ought to present their consumer how their consumer portal capabilities and stroll them by way of logging in and making a password earlier than the top of your first assembly. Set your self and your shoppers up for safe communications from the beginning.

Instruments to make regulation agency cybersecurity easier

Even when you understand that information safety and privateness are vitally essential to your regulation agency, there’s nonetheless the potential so that you can overlook one thing, particularly for those who deal with a number of information. In spite of everything, the vast majority of legal professionals are working extra time to get all the pieces accomplished. In line with the 2022 Authorized Traits Report, 86% of legal professionals report working outdoors of normal enterprise hours—which suggests essential points like information safety might doubtlessly slip by way of the cracks.

Fortunately, in an period the place some expertise can instill worry, you too can use tech to fight threat and make it simpler to guard your agency’s information. Listed here are just a few instruments to contemplate:

Sign: For safer communication

Communication is essential, however sending unprotected messages can put information in danger. The Sign app—obtainable for Android, iPhone, or your desktop pc—enables you to ship safe, high-quality, end-to-end encrypted communications (together with group, textual content, voice, video, doc, and film messages) anyplace on this planet.

One other bonus? Sign is free.

There are many different communication choices within the Clio App Listing as effectively.

As a reminder, regulation corporations ought to at all times do their very own due diligence and select a software that’s greatest for his or her agency’s wants.

Clio: For safer authorized software program options

Clio’s authorized software program takes defending your shoppers’ info (and your agency’s information) significantly, with safety measures designed that can assist you keep secure and compliant.

Clio’s superior product options and controls work to safe your information by way of options like:

Function-based permissions: Visibility into delicate case info is restricted to particular customers at your agency.
Password insurance policies: Clio’s password coverage settings assist you to implement robust passwords and common password resets at your agency.
Session/Exercise monitoring: By logging the IP deal with of each login to your account, Clio helps you retain a watch out for suspicious account exercise.
Two-factor authentication: Improve login safety by verifying person identities through their cellular system.
Login safeguards: Is somebody attempting to guess your login? Clio locks your account for a while—routinely—after too many failed login makes an attempt. A safe consumer portal additionally retains communications encrypted and safe.

Study extra about Clio’s industry-leading safety.

Is the cloud safe sufficient for regulation corporations?

Cybersecurity for regulation corporations requires heightened tasks for guaranteeing information safety and privateness, and cloud-based software program generally is a highly effective strategy to get your agency so as. Certainly, in recent times, cloud software program has turn out to be more and more safer than the info safety supplied by conventional servers in some ways.

Whereas sure inherent dangers include dealing with delicate consumer information within the cloud—such because the potential for information breaches—respected cloud service suppliers provide safety measures to mitigate threat.

And, although new safety dangers and issues will emerge, funding in measures to maintain digital info secure is rising in variety. As a Gartner article on world safety and threat administration spending in 2024 outlined, it’s predicted that worldwide end-user spending on safety and threat administration will enhance by 14.4% in 2024.

5 Advantages of the cloud

By shifting to authorized cloud computing companies, your regulation agency can possible profit from the next:

Improved safety: When used appropriately, respected cloud-based options are safe. More and more, utilizing the cloud can enhance your agency’s safety by profiting from built-in safety measures. For instance, you should use devoted safety groups, common safety assessments, and extra that suppliers spend money on.
Simpler software program updates: As a substitute of losing money and time manually updating your workforce’s on-premise software program, you possibly can profit from common, computerized software program updates from cloud suppliers.
VPN redundancy: The cloud enables you to work from anyplace, with safe entry to your agency’s info—with no need a VPN.
Enhanced compatibility: Cloud-based software program firms make it easy to attach with different instruments to get probably the most out of your purposes. For instance, the Clio App Listing options over 250 obtainable apps that can assist you customise and streamline your workflows in Clio.
Fewer IT requests and prices: High quality cloud-based software program suppliers provide top-tier assist—like cellphone assist, dwell chat, and a data heart—to all customers. All these assist options imply much less time and funds spent on resolving primary IT questions out of your workforce. And, with cloud suppliers decreasing the necessity for on-premise servers and {hardware}, you’ll lower your expenses on storage and {hardware} upkeep.

Safety greatest practices for authorized cloud-based companies

The cloud presents safe, helpful choices to assist your regulation agency run extra effectively. Nonetheless, not all cloud suppliers are the identical. To make sure your cloud companies are safe, that you must successfully vet suppliers and stop person errors.

When contemplating authorized cloud-based suppliers, it’s essential to ask, at minimal, the next:

Have they got a safety workforce? A devoted, skilled safety workforce signifies that cybersecurity is a precedence.
Are they compliant? Cloud suppliers ought to promote their compliance with necessities just like the Cost Card Business Knowledge Safety Normal (PCI DSS) and legal guidelines akin to GDPR and CCPA.
Do they conduct automated safety scans? For instance, Clio is audited and licensed every day by McAfee Safe to assist guarantee Clio merchandise aren’t affected by malware, vulnerabilities, and different on-line threats.
Do they provide an uptime assure service degree settlement (SLA)? An SLA speaks to the minimal degree of service supplied by an organization to a buyer of their contract; cloud suppliers ought to present a share assure for uptime. That is the period of time that the cloud service supplier is accessible to finish customers.
Do they encrypt information each in transit and at relaxation? Suppliers ought to shield delicate information each whereas it’s in movement and whereas it’s saved or archived.
Are they really helpful by bar associations and regulation societies? Approval and proposals from authorized associations point out {industry} recognition for high-security requirements.
What security-focused options do they promote? What different measures does the supplier take to assist guarantee enhanced safety with their software program? You possibly can see an summary of the safety measures Clio gives right here.

Closing ideas on information safety and privateness for regulation corporations

What ought to take precedence with regards to information safety on your regulation agency? Begin analyzing and enhancing your information safety as quickly as doable. It’s at all times higher to be proactive. You’ll keep away from the damaging penalties of a cyber assault or information breach.

Defending your shoppers and your regulation agency’s information is greater than only a good factor to do. It’s ethically and professionally important to your function as a lawyer. Understanding your tasks and greatest practices may also help mitigate your threat of knowledge breaches. And a few of the newest authorized expertise can take your safety even additional whereas additionally enhancing your agency’s total effectivity.

We printed this weblog submit in January 2024. Final up to date: February 1, 2024.

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