There is an epidemic of fraud and cybercrime in the UK and law firms are not immune. Irrespective of size, law firms attract cybercriminals due to the large amounts of client money, data and sensitive information they hold.
Sensitive client data is highly valuable as it often includes personal, business and commercial information such as medical records, government secrets and divorce papers all of which can be used as blackmail.
The amount of money law firms are losing to cybercrime is increasing. In 2016 the SRA reported that £9.4 million of client money was lost, increasing to £10.7 million in 2017.
The threat is constantly evolving and firms need to continue evaluating and improving their cyber resilience.
The National Cyber Security Centre’s Legal Threat Report found that 60% of law firms in the UK reported experiencing an attack in 2017; up from 42% in 2013.