Legal Week Intelligence report reveals growing worries about threat of online crime among law firms

Law firm managers are becoming increasingly concerned about the likelihood of their firm being subject to a cyber attack, according to new research from Legal Week.

A Legal Week Benchmarker survey – which canvassed the views of more than 370 partners, IT directors, chief information officers (CIOs) and other senior managers – found almost 80% of respondents believed that their firm is likely to be the subject of cyber attacks, while nearly two fifths (38%) believe that the number of cyber attacks is on the rise.

The research findings, in association with digital risk experts Stroz Friedberg, are backed up by the Law Society, which is working with Government bodies including the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills to establish a cyber security consultancy, which will provide practical support to law firms. 

The society last month held a cyber security briefing for City law firms on the actions they need to take to protect themselves. DLA Piper CIO Daniel Pollick said: "There has been a change in atmosphere in the past 18 months. Governments are taking cyber security more seriously and are pushing it to the top of business agendas." 

More than a third (36%) of respondents expressed a belief that their firm's systems could withstand attacks. DLA Piper is investing a seven-figure sum in a programme to combat cyber threats, which includes both technical and human elements.

Legal Week's study also found more than two-thirds of respondents (68%) think the law is an attractive target sector for cyber criminals, although only one in eight (12%) believe their firm has been attacked to date. Almost two-thirds (62%) think that other members of their organisation now take the threat of cyber attacks seriously. 

Janet Day, director of IT at Berwin Leighton Paisner, said: "The market is becoming more alert to the increase in cyber-criminal activity – and is becoming more mindful of it. The threat profile has got bigger as our population becomes more sophisticated."

The survey also revealed that law firms lag behind the rest of the commercial world in terms of estimating costs associated with IT threats, with only 9% having worked out potential costs, compared to 26% in businesses outside the legal sector. 

Day added: "It varies from firm to firm. Some organisations are well prepared to deal with threats, but I don't agree that firms lag behind. Most have done work on this." 

The survey found that fewer than a third (31%) of people working in law firms believe that their top management fully understands the issues around cyber security. 

Day commented: "While top management should be aware of what a cyber threat is, it should not necessarily be their role to deal with it, but the person they designate."