Recent research has indicated a sharp increase in the number of law firms being the target of scammers during the past year.
The Law Society survey also revealed that the growth has been mirrored in the number of practices taking out cyber-insurance, which also saw a significant rise.
Looking at the past year, the research revealed that just over a quarter (26%) of firms had been the victim of a scammer attack, with the figure growing in proportion with the firm’s size. For firms with 5-10 partners, the percentage grew to 50%, rising to 64% for firms with 11-25 partners. This is a substantial increase from last year, recorded at 34% and 44% respectively.
Whilst the top method of attack was through email or phishing, other types of scam included computer viruses, telephone calls and invoice fraud. The police were contacted in 19% of cases, but the most common method of response was to update the existing security system or taking internal activity.
Of the respondent firms with between 5-10 or 11-25 partners, just under half (42%) have implemented some kind of cyber insurance. Similarly in line with the number of attacks, this proportion decreases as the size of firm declines.
In regard to the Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF), just over a third of those asked knew that it would be closing in 2020. When the run-off cover of a firm expires, SIF can cover claims made between 2 September 2007 and the end of September 2020. Just under half (43%) of respondents felt that when SIF expired, it should be a necessary requirement for firms to buy run-off cover for a period of longer than six years.
On the premise of this being available, seven out ten firms stated that would consider its purchase.
