Extract from Frank Ready’s article “Coronavirus Outbreak May Also Put Attorneys at Greater Risk for Cyber Infection”
As the novel coronavirus pandemic has continued to unfold across the U.S., law firm chief information officers are being confronted by a new reality where remote working is par for the course—and cyberthreats are knocking directly at their attorneys’ front door. Last week, BBC News reported that hackers are taking advantage of the health scare to attach malware to faux reference materials and other deceptively legitimate resources that people may be seeking out.
For law firm CIOs, the immediate threat isn’t to the network infrastructure or cybersecurity mechanisms they have in place, but to the partners, attorneys and other human resources who, for the time being, are no longer working under the same roof. Some have already witnessed attempts by hackers to capitalize on the pandemic firsthand.
