From the Executive Director, 0618 GABJ, GSB Vol. 23, No. 7, Pg. 14
| Position | Vol. 23 7 Pg. 14 |
New Member Benefit:
Cyber Security Protection
A lawyer’s duty to maintain and protect confidential information on behalf of his or her clients is as old as the legal profession itself. In the age of electronic record keeping and information storage technology, however, this responsibility is more challenging than ever. We’ve gone far beyond the good old days of simply locking the office filing cabinets at the end of the day.
The fact that many of the nation’s most prominent financial institutions, retail companies and governmental agencies have fallen victim to cyber security failures is well known. With one in four law firms with at least 100 lawyers having experienced a data breach, according to a 2015 ABA legal technology survey, attorneys should be aware that our profession is as vulnerable to a cyber attack as the rest of the business world.
“As attorneys, our clients trust us with confidential information,” Jeffrey A. Franklin writes for GP Solo. “Criminals are attracted by confidential information such as financial records, health records, Social Security numbers, intellectual property, depositions and criminal records. Loss of such information may result from a malicious attack (e.g., hacking, malware or deliberate espionage), a dishonest employee, or theft of a notebook, tablet or smartphone. Loss can also result from innocent mistakes such as losing a smartphone, unintended transmissions, or other human error that can occur in any busy practice.”
According to David L. Hudson Jr., writing for the ABA Journal, “The loss of such data can have many negative repercussions, including lawsuits, regulatory investigations, fines and penalties, and the loss of a good reputation as a trusted fiduciary of client confidentiality. For this reason, more and more law firms are following in the footsteps of other industries and purchasing or considering the purchase of cyber liability insurance.”
Hudson quotes Chris Andrews, vice president of professional liability at AIG, as saying, “Law firms today are responsible for massive amounts of electronic and nonelectronic information. Depending on a firm’s areas of practice, this information can range from personally identifiable information to protected health information to confidential corporate information, such as intellectual property, contracts, and details on mergers and acquisitions. This...
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