The number of successful cyber attacks against UK law firms rose by 77% in the past year to 954, up from 538 the year before, according to a new study of the threat. Chartered accountants Lubbock Fine said that the wave is driven by criminals seeing law firms as prime targets for ransomware attacks or blackmail.
This is due to the sensitive personal and financial information they hold, which hackers can sell on the dark web or threaten to publish on the internet. Earlier this month, a global survey revealed that ransomware attackers have been paid off at least eight times in recent years.
Read more…
Source: The Law Society Gazette
Related:
- Cyber attack on councils across Greater Manchester leaves thousands vulnerable to phishing scam
August 14, 2024
A cyber attack on councils across Greater Manchester has left thousands of residents vulnerable to a phishing scam. The attack, which initially hit one borough last week and spread over the weekend, on software company Locata downed the housing websites for Manchester, Salford and Bolton councils. It has also led to thousands of users being sent ...
- UK police commissioner threatens to extradite, jail US citizens over online posts
August 9, 2024
London’s Metropolitan Police chief warned that officials will not only be cracking down on British citizens for commentary on the riots in the U.K., but on American citizens as well. “We will throw the full force of the law at people. And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from ...
- UK: Woman arrested for ‘sharing inaccurate information about identity of Southport attacker’
August 8, 2024
A woman has been arrested in relation to a social media post containing ‘inaccurate information about the identity of the attacker’ in the Southport stabbings. The 55-year-old woman from near Chester, was arrested on Thursday (August 8). She was taken into custody on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and false communications. ...
- Advanced fined £6m over stolen patient data in 2022 cyber attack
August 7, 2024
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has imposed a £6.09 million fine on software provider Advanced following an initial finding that it failed to implement measures to protect the personal information of almost 83,000 people. A number of health and care systems delivered by Advanced first experienced major outages on 4 August 2022, disrupting several critical services ...
- UK: Port of Tyne website hit by cyber attack
August 7, 2024
A port has fallen victim to cyber attackers who targeted its website. The Port of Tyne confirmed its site was down for some time on Tuesday following a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack, which attempts to overload a website to make it hard to use or inaccessible. A spokesman for the port said operational systems, ...
- UK crimebusters shut down global call-spoofing outfit that claimed 170K-plus victims
August 2, 2024
Suspected devs behind Russian Coms cuffed – now to find the users of the nastyware The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has shut down an outfit called Russian Coms – a call-spoofing service believed to have swindled hundreds of thousands of victims. The agency also arrested at least four suspects thought to be involved in the ...