We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our members a Happy New Year and wish them all the best for the upcoming year. Whilst many of us will make New Year’s resolutions aimed at enhancing our personal lives (and some of us may even stick to them!), many of us will also make resolutions which benefit our business and working lives.
Good business practices are key in strengthening your business and ensuring you avoid costly pitfalls. A particular topic of interest for our members at our recent annual CPD conference was Cyber Readiness, ensuring you have adequate measures in place to deal with the increasing number of cyber attacks and data breaches many law firms now face.
Hackers and other computer criminals typically take the path of least resistance when attempting to compromise an organisation. More and more frequently, this is tricking a member of staff into opening a malware loaded document, or visiting a web page with a browser exploit. These attack methods are commonly referred to as ‘spear phishing’.
Whilst IT budgets are usually generous with appliances (e.g. firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems) and traditional security software (e.g. antivirus) one area that is left uncovered is that of protecting your staff.
At our recent annual CPD conference, our guest speakers, Keith Davidson and Glen Wilkinson of Polira highlighted the benefits of having robust office procedures in place to tackle the unfortunate rise in cyber-crime. By simulating spear-phishing attacks against staff in a safe learning environment, as well as empowering them to report suspicious emails via the Polira Outlook plugin, Polira aim to make staff more risk aware. Additionally, the Polira Dashboard allows the tracking of campaigns over time in order to monitor staff learning, and isolate anyone who may require additional training.
One of the reasons we are happy to recommend Polira’s cyber-security software is their transparent and affordable pricing plans. For more information, visit the Polira website.
At a time when the consequences of inadequate security measures, both financial and reputational, can be substantial, it may be time to make your firm’s cyber security your New Year’s resolution.
