Fifth of UK law firms attacked by hackers

A fifth of law firms in the UK have been attacked by hackers, according to a new report published in the wake of the leaked Paradise Papers. The poll found distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and Structured Query Language (SQL) injections to be the worst threats to law firms, though half of respondents also cited human error as a challenge to maintaining data security and privacy. Fifty-five per cent of firms, however, said they are employing data security experts and 60 per cent said they are providing cybersecurity training to staff. Steve Harrison, a director at technology firm Century Link, which commissioned the research, said: “Every time a law firm faces an attempted cybersecurity attack their infrastructure, data and customers’ data, as well as their reputation, is at risk of being compromised. “That risk grows as companies have to offer more online services and flexible remote working options for staff in order to be competitive in today’s digital world.”