Extract from Dan Roe’s article “Law Firm Data Breach Reports Show No Signs of Slowing in 2024”
Five months into the year, 2024 is on pace to be the biggest year in the history of law firm data breach reports.
At least 21 law firms filed data breach reports to state attorneys general offices this year. By comparison, 2023 saw 28 law firm breach reports, while 2022 had 33 breach reports and 2021 had 38.
Taft Stettinius & Hollister is the largest law firm to report a breach this year. The firm discovered a ransomware attack last October, according to breach reports filed in Maine and Indiana in April by privacy and data security practice group chair Scot Ganow.
An investigation found unauthorized access to “certain data stored on a limited number of secondary servers and workstations, some of which stored client and personal information,” according to the Maine breach report. Personal information such as names, addresses and Social Security numbers of nearly 6,000 people were accessed, the report stated.
“The firm’s IT and operations teams worked around the clock throughout the weekend,” Ganow said in a statement to The American Lawyer. “By the following Monday, the firm had safely restored full access to our email and document management systems, as well as other primary systems, enabling us to fully communicate with and serve our clients without material interruption.”
