Why QLD law firms are becoming prime targets for cyber criminals

Posted on: August 19th, 2019 onPlatinum

You may have seen reports in the news that QLD law firms are becoming the prime targets for cyber criminals. Cyber criminals are using malicious emails and building trust with employees within law firms to launch their attacks from inside the organisation. The Law Council of Australia has reported that an increasing number of Australian firms have been attacked, including smaller and mid-sized firms. Here’s why QLD law firms are becoming prime targets for cyber criminals.

Wide variety of clients

QLD law firms work with clients in every industry and with any possible number of clients. The wide variety of clients makes them very attractive to cyber criminals. With so many people and businesses seeking legal representation from QLD law firms, it is easy for cyber criminals to trick employees by pretending to be a potential client and using ransomware attacks to gain access to the firm’s computer systems. A few years ago, cyber criminals used this technique to steal millions of dollars from QLD law firms, gaining the trust of employees over the phone and priming them for the malicious email that followed.

Personal information and sensitive data

QLD law firms are prime cyber targets because of the breadth of personal client information and sensitive data that they hold. Sensitive data could include corporate documents, patents and trade secrets, and correspondence with clients that could be sold, traded or used to gain a business advantage for other organisations.

QLD law firms are extremely vulnerable to cyber attacks – hacking into them can be as simple as sending a cleverly worded email to an employee to gain access to their login details.