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:
- Royal Mail export services severely disrupted after ‘cyber incident’
January 11, 2023
Britain’s Royal Mail said on Wednesday it was facing severe disruption to its international export services following what it described as “a cyber incident”. “We are temporarily unable to despatch items to overseas destinations,” Royal Mail, one of the world’s largest post and parcel firms, said in a service update on its website. It advised customers to ...
- UK arrests five for selling ‘dodgy’ point of sale software
December 12, 2022
Tax authorities from Australia, Canada, France, the UK and the USA have conducted a joint probe into “electronic sales suppression software” – applications that falsify point of sale data to help merchants avoid paying tax on their true revenue. A Friday announcement from the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (known as the J5), states that ...
- Four suspects cuffed, face extradition to US over tax refund scam plot
December 6, 2022
Four men suspected of plotting to commit wire fraud and identity theft have been arrested and now face extradition to America. It is alleged they conspired to break into US companies’ servers, steal people’s personally identifiable information (PII), use that info to file fraudulent tax returns to Uncle Sam, and collect victims’ tax refunds. In newly unsealed ...
- UK: Cambridge Water customers’ bank details published to dark web after cyber attack
December 3, 2022
Bank account details of Cambridge Water customers have been published to the dark web, following a cyber attack. Customers have been left alarmed and furious after learning that names and current addresses, sort codes and account numbers are among the data stolen by cyber criminals from its parent company, South Staffordshire plc, back in August. Cambridge Water ...
- Cybersecurity laws to be updated to boost UK protection from cyber attacks
November 30, 2022
The UK’s cybersecurity laws will be updated to require outsourced IT providers to meet security standards as part of efforts to better protect supply chains, the Government has announced. The Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations will be updated so third-party firms providing IT services to businesses will be compelled to have effective cybersecurity measures in ...
- Donut extortion group also targets victims with ransomware
November 22, 2022
The Donut (D0nut) extortion group has been confirmed to deploy ransomware in double-extortion attacks on the enterprise. BleepingComputer first reported on the Donut extortion group in August, linking them to attacks on Greek natural gas company DESFA, UK architectural firm Sheppard Robson, and multinational construction company Sando. Strangely, the data for Sando and DESFA was also posted ...