Expectations run high during international events such as the World Cup. This World Cup’s host nation, Qatar, are centre stage – all eyes are on them to pull off a seamless sporting tournament.
Cybercrime thrives around major global events, and Qatari cybersecurity experts believe that ticketing, hotel bookings, and restaurant reservations will be faked by hackers to capture personal data from people traveling to the country. It has been reported that the host country has invested $1.1 billion in cybersecurity to prevent incidents during the World Cup and beyond.
The legal sector is also prone to cyber security threats, due to the amount of highly sensitive data it possesses, with the number of attacks increasing quarter-on-quarter. It is essential that you put systems and practice in place, building a multi-layered cybersecurity strategy, to protect your end-users, platforms, and networks from the ever-increasing cyber threats that the legal sector faces.
1. The Players – Your Users
End-user device rationalisation
End-user device management, including installing and updating operating systems and managing end-user accounts, is key to safeguarding your confidential data from being breached. Additionally, you should create an end-user device policy, which enables you to set device boundaries and implement barriers to mitigate human error.
Multi-factor authentication
Password theft is very common, and the legal sector is a prime target. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) requires the user to verify themselves and confirm the log-in attempt, which provides a second layer of security, preventing unauthorised users to gain access to your systems.
Web security
Protect data, users and your firm from exposure to risks such as malware, phishing and denial of service with web security, which defends businesses from breaches and attacks via online threats by monitoring and filtering internet traffic and blocking any traffic that is potentially harmful or suspicious.
Security training
Cybersecurity is not only the responsibility of your IT department but one of everyone in your legal practice. There is an undeniable link between basic cybersecurity knowledge and the mitigation of breaches – it is vital that your end users undergo continuous training to keep abreast of the ever-evolving threat landscape.
2. The Equipment – Your Platforms
Resiliency with the cloud
With the cloud, there are multiple security enhancements that are beyond the capabilities of what many firms can achieve with their on-premise infrastructure. From firewall perimeter security to secure back-up to data encryption, by transitioning to the cloud, you are enabling resiliency and an extra layer of protection to your back-end systems.
Business continuity
Having a business continuity provision will enable fast recovery of files, servers or applications, data loss avoidance and a seamless failover experience in the event of a disaster, with minimal disruption to your firm.
M365 Optimisation
M365 has built-in security measures that span user access, threat protection and information storage. The level of control that Microsoft provides its users gives you the ability to apply access permissions to emails, data access via SharePoint or OneDrive, and the ability to centralise policy and governance.
3. The Pitch – Your Network
Heightened firewalls
One of the most vital parts of your network security is a firewall, which acts as the first line of defence against the myriad of threats that the legal sector faces. You must ensure that your firewall has specific access rules in place, which will determine whether it should allow incoming or outgoing traffic from your device or the Internet or whether it should block access.
Endpoint protection
Because of the ever-increasing number of endpoints on modern networks, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to fight against advanced attacks that enter through these devices – traditional antivirus software is no longer enough. Investing in endpoint detection gives back control so you can protect your firm knowing you’re well-equipped against the large number of endpoint variables.
Wi-Fi security
Most of us access Wi-Fi Internet connections every day without giving it a second thought. However, you must be mindful to avoid making common Wi-Fi mistakes that can put your confidential data at risk. To remain safe while surfing the web: avoid connecting to unsafe public networks when on the go, use VPNs to access your secure network, keep your broadband router up to date and ensure that your wireless network password is unique and strong.
“As a defender, you can be many shapes and sizes. You can be short and fast. Or you can be tall and jump high. It doesn’t matter. The only necessity is that you are confident when you take the pitch – because every week there is a new challenge.”
Fabio Cannavaro, Professional Football Coach & Former Player
Contact us today to find out how CTS can help you to build your cybersecurity confident and keep your users, platforms and network expertly defended against threats.
*Parking the Bus – If a football team parks the bus, it defends without trying to attack, with almost all of the players in defence and metaphorically parking the team bus in front of their goal as another line of defence.
