Cyber attacks on law firms jumped by 77% over the past year


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 


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • UK: TikTok to be blocked from parliamentary devices and network over cyber security fears

    March 23, 2023

    The commissions of the House of Commons and House of Lords have announced they will follow the move taken by the government on official devices, citing the need for cyber security. A parliament spokesman said that TikTok “will be blocked from all parliamentary devices and the wider parliamentary network”. Read more… Source: Sky News  

  • UK Government sets out strategy to protect NHS from cyber attacks

    March 22, 2023

    The government will provide a plan to promote cyber resilience across the health and care sectors by 2030, protecting both services and patients. New strategy sets out 5 key ways to build cyber resilience in health and care by 2030 Cyber strategy will protect health and adult social care functions and services, which the whole nation depends ...

  • Wymondham College hit by sophisticated cyber attack

    March 14, 2023

    Wymondham College said disruption was likely to continue until the Easter holidays due to its IT system being targeted. In a message sent to students, seen by the EDP, the college apologised for disruption but said it believed there had been no data breach. Read more… Source: Wymondham Evening News  

  • UK minister asks National Cyber Security Centre to look into safety of app

    March 14, 2023

    UK security minister Tom Tugendhat has asked the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to look into TikTok after governments around the world have begun banning it from their work phones. The Chinese-owned video sharing app is increasingly under the European and US microscope over security and data privacy, with concerns it could be used to promote ...

  • Royal Mail resumes overseas mail at post offices after cyber-attack

    February 21, 2023

    International mail services have finally been reinstated at UK post offices, more than a month after Royal Mail was hit by a cyber attack. The breach on 10 January caused a backlog that led to long delays for consumers and businesses. Read more… Source: BBC News  

  • UK government “left council to deal with ransomware attack” that cost £11m

    February 9, 2023

    The government left Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council to fight a massive ransomware attack alone for a week, with minimal support or correspondence, the council’s leader has said. Mary Lanigan told MPs yesterday that while police and cybercrime officers were on site within two days, help from Westminster was lacking. Recovering from the incident cost ...