With cyber-attacks rarely out of the headlines, it is no wonder that businesses are worried about the risk of data theft – particularly with GDPR now in force.
But, while organisations fret about sophisticated criminals in far off locations, in reality, the most significant threat to security comes from within. In fact, in most cases, it is employees that help attackers to gain access to systems and data.
How are hackers able to do this? Because most firms are still unaware of the dangers facing them and the simple steps they can take to prevent attacks. As you’ll probably be aware, the legal sector is particularly at risk, with 99% of UK law firms vulnerable to email fraud and 60% of all cybercrime reported to the SRA caused by phishing.
But while most existing email systems are not up to the job of protecting them, there are some simple steps firms can take to safeguard their sensitive client information. And, at Lawyer Checker, we’re committed to educating lawyers on how to do this.
The first thing your firm must do is to train your staff to be on the lookout for any suspicious emails and to delete anything they are slightly unsure of. Educating employees on the methods used by hackers and the level of risk is crucial if you want to reduce the likelihood of cyber-attacks. But, with cybercriminals becoming more and more sophisticated in their approach, digital literacy can only look after your firm so far.
As such, it is vital to filter out malicious emails before they hit your users’ inboxes and stop hackers from sending fake emails pretending to be from your firm. Indeed, when it comes to protecting your business, prevention is always better than cure. Luckily, the technology is available to help you to do this.
DMARC authentication works by identifying the source of an email and blocking and binning anything suspicious. By determining whether or not an email is legitimate, DMARC can identify spam and phishing messages, and make sure they never reach people’s inboxes.
However, while HMRC, The National Cyber Security Centre, UK and Australian governments, as well as U.S. Federal Trade Commission are all supporters of DMARC, only 3% of the FTSE 250 use it to prevent malicious emails being sent on their behalf*. As such, there is a vast amount of data now at risk from hackers.
The good news is that for legal providers, help is at hand. Brought to you by Lawyer Checker, OnDMARC is a new, cost-effective service that actively blocks phishing attacks and prevents third-parties from impersonating your email domain. Powered by DMARC technology, we are offering this service to help lawyers protect against phishing attacks and exploitation.
With over one million email addresses from the UK’s top 500 law firms found on the Dark Web** and the financial impact of future email attacks on the legal sector potentially crippling, OnDMARC is a powerful tool for firms committed to building up their cyber defences to avoid potentially devastating outcomes.
Find out more about how to get the support you need to implement OnDMARC confidently and quickly, by clicking here.
*Cyber Security Partners
**RepKnight
This article was submitted to be published by Lawyer Checker as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
