Your Legal Practice And Digital Security

Now, more than ever before, legal practices face intense and frequent attacks on their data and information. Law firms have proven to be valuable targets for hackers and other cybercriminals, as the information and data they can gain from these firms can be sold to the highest bidder or used for financial gain. These malicious elements can gain access to your information in a variety of ways. Some might use simple phishing scams, others get you and your employees to download harmful malware, and some might just take information from an unencrypted email. With so many new ways to lose access to your data, it’s important to have a competent IT team maintaining your digital security.

The Results Of A Violation

Legal firms work with a variety of cases and a myriad of clients, which means that at any moment, they may be subject to one or more privacy policies. Violating any of these privacy policies could result in immense financial penalties, as well as some possibility of jail time. For instance, violating HIPAA, whether intentionally or by having your data stolen, could result in a fine of $50,000 for your firm. Something as simple as an unsecured data storage solution could result in thousands of dollars of damages. The impact of a privacy violation goes beyond your wallet, however. The damage to your firm’s reputation is measurable, and many smaller firms do not recover from the loss of trust that results. That’s because any privacy violation is announced by the prosecuting entity, allowing potential clients to turn to more secure competitors.