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:
- Investigatory Powers Act: Back doors, black boxes, and tech capability regs
May 8, 2017
The Home Office has launched an under-the-radar consultation on a critical step in the implementation of the Investigatory Powers Act (IP Act): the regulations on technical capability notices. The Open Rights Group has recently revealed details of the proposed regulations. Under the IP Act, a technical capability notice can be issued to a telecommunications operator by the secretary of state ...
- Debenhams Data Breach Affects 26K Customers, Payment Details Exposed
May 5, 2017
Personal data of up to 26,000 people was exposed due to a data breach affecting customers of Debenhams Flowers, the retailer’s florist arm. According to Debenhams, the site is actually operated by Ecomnova, which is a third-party supplier. Therefore, customers of other services it provides have not been affected in any way. On the other hand, Ecomnova ...
- Hundreds of Fake UK Bank Sites Exposed, Pose High Risk for Customers
May 3, 2017
Hackers have registered over 300 domains with names similar to those of several popular British banks, which they use to trick customers into handing over personal details or login data. According to DomainTools, a company handling domain names and DNS-based cyber threats, 324 such domains were discovered only in relation to banks in the United Kingdom, ...
- TalkTalk hack attack: Two men plead guilty to customer data theft
April 27, 2017
Two men have pleaded guilty to hacking into TalkTalk’s website in October 2015 and stealing thousands of customer records containing sensitive data. Matthew Hanley, 22, of Devonshire Drive, Tamworth admitted to three offences under the Computer Misuse Act. The Metropolitan Police said that he confessed to breaching TalkTalk’s site, had obtained files that would enable the ...
- Cardiff cyber security research centre ‘first in Europe’
April 24, 2017
A new research centre to tackle cyber attacks has been set up in Cardiff. Launching the Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Analytics, Cardiff University and Airbus said it was the first of its kind in Europe. Their research will aim to protect corporate IT networks, intellectual property and critical national infrastructure. The university has also been awarded ...
- Kaspersky Lab to provide insurance policy holders with it forensics in cyber attacks
April 24, 2017
Kaspersky Lab will provide IT forensics and incident response services to Allianz Global Corporate Specialty SE (AGCS) cyber insurance customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In a cyber crisis, businesses can now benefit from Kaspersky Lab’s expertise, helping them to limit the damage of security incidents through fast access to Next-Gen services and the ability ...