• March 28, 2024
 What Should An IT Department Do In Relation To Cyber Security?

What Should An IT Department Do In Relation To Cyber Security?

UK law firms are now starting to realise that responsibility for cyber security doesn’t just lie within the IT team, and that technical controls alone can’t protect a business from today’s attacks.

I often see the phrase ‘cyber security is a people issue not an IT issue’. It’s true that this needs to be a shared responsibility, but there are some basic things that you should expect your technical team to do to minimise the risks.

Know your infrastructure

It takes an average of 206 days to detect a cyber attack.

This means that a successful intrusion into your network goes undetected for a significant length of time. Your IT team should know normal patterns of behaviour for your network.

The only way to do this is to get to know the heartbeat of your infrastructure.
Early detection of unusual patterns of traffic such as overseas IPs, unusually large amounts of data transfer could help to spot a breach early and minimise the damage, but this is only possible if your team know what normal behaviour is.

The same applies to users.

Whilst user monitoring is often a controversial issue, it’s always advisable to know what regular login times are, email volumes etc. for your users. Anomalies in this could highlight the work of a malicious insider or a user whose credentials have been compromised.

Be smart with Domain Name Systems (DNS)

Basic email security is essential. User training is crucial, but every IT department should have implemented basic DNS protections for your domain.

This should be a combination of SPF, DKIM and DMARC as a bare minimum. DMARC is recommended by the National Centre for Cyber Security and there are some really good tools around to help with config so there should be no excuses here.

Patch

If not the most basic yet vital protection.

The WannaCry ransomware attack of 2017 spread so rapidly due to unpatched operating systems. Under no circumstances should a firm be using legacy systems that are unsupported by the vendor.

Make sure your team are applying patches as soon as they are released and keeping logs of when systems and software are patched.

It’s particularly important to regularly patch particularly vulnerable software such as Adobe, Java and WordPress.

On 14th January 2020, Microsoft announced that it would no longer be providing technical support for its outdated operating platform Windows 7. Two final patches were issued at the end of January, but now the system lies vulnerable as no other updates are said to be sent out. Upgrading your operating platform to a newer version will prevent this issue from becoming a problem.

Say no

I have lost count of the number of times that I’m asked to provide temporary admin access, make an exception to a control for the benefit of speed etc.

Access control processes are there for a reason. If they are often bypassed, they become not worth the paper they’re written on and can leave a firm open to attacks through elevated permissions.

These attacks need not be malicious but more so a careless action by an employee.

Keep up to date

IT departments should keep up to date with industry and global cyber security trends.

I would expect my team to be familiar with the latest attacks and to make recommendations to prevent similar ones happening to us.

Although this research and reading takes time, it’s a worthy investment.

Written by Jennifer Williams, Head of IT and Security Specialist at the Practical Vision Network, which includes Lawyer Checker.

This article was submitted to be published by Lawyer Checker as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.

Lawyer Checker

http://www.lawyerchecker.co.uk

Lawyer Checker Provider of market-leading risk management solutions to the legal sector. Lawyer Checker is a leading provider of risk management solutions to the legal sector, offering a full inclusive suite of products and services which have one thing in common – they are all designed to protect and to promote your firm. Our expert understanding of the legal sector means that we are in a unique position to ensure that your business is protected from the main threats without delay. We are committed to being proactive when it comes to caring for our clients, and to getting them onto a platform where they are safer. What does Lawyer Checker do? Our suite of fraud prevention and cyber security products include: Thirdfort Thirdfort is the latest in Lawyer Checker's innovative suite of products helping to defend law firms against the persistent threats lurking in the legal sector, by providing enhanced due diligence to source of funds and ID checks. It uses a mobile app to digitally confirm a client's identity by combining facial recognition technology with document scanning and open banking, enabling you to confidently “Know Your Customer." Find out more > Account and Entity Screen (AES) AES provides your firm with enhanced risk management when transferring funds by checking the accounts details of a solicitor you are sending funds to against our unique database. This ensures your client funds are sent to a legitimate bank account associated with the vendor’s conveyancing firm. Find out more > Consumer Bank Account Checker (CBAC) CBAC offers enhanced due diligence when remitting sales proceeds and balancing payments to consumers. It works by validating the source and destination of funds by checking the bank account details match your client’s personal details when sending or receiving client funds. Find out more > OnDMARC A vital layer in protecting against email modification fraud, OnDMARC can actively block phishing attacks and obstruct 3rd parties impersonating your email domain to any recipient such as your clients, suppliers or employees. Email fraud is a law firm’s biggest risk. To avoid sensitive data being stolen through email impersonation fraud, safeguard your firm by implementing OnDMARC, otherwise anyone can send an email directly to your customers, suppliers or employees pretending to be you. Find out more > Cyber Certifications The National Centre for Cyber Security has identified the legal sector as a top target for cyber criminals. The sensitive data, large sums of money and important information that is held needs protecting to avoid severe damage to clients and your reputation. Cyber Essentials Cyber Essentials is a ‘must have’ certification for law firms which will protect your business, prevents data breaches and highlights to your customers, your regulators, the ICO and cyber criminals that you take cyber security seriously and shows you have taken the recommended steps to secure yourselves from potential threats. Getting Cyber Essentials certification for your firm is quick and easy, our in-house expert Cyber Essentials Assessors at Lawyer Checker (Part of Practical Vision Network) can conduct your online assessment and issue your certificate in less than 48hrs. For only £350 plus VAT it will give you peace of mind that you have shielded your law firm from cyber risk. Cyber Essentials Plus Our professional in-house assessors can issue official certificates to compliant firms for Cyber Essentials Plus, which is the next step up from Cyber Essentials. It covers the same controls but this time it is independently verified by a site visit from our expert assessor who will carry out a thorough inspection of online devices and web hosts through a detailed network vulnerability scan and certify your security arrangements to Cyber Essentials Plus level. IASME Governance Our expert in-house assessors can issue official certificates to compliant firms for IASME which includes Cyber Essentials certification along with a GDPR readiness assessment. It signifies to your customers and shareholders that you consider data protection a priority, and your desire to manage risk by demonstrating a high level of security. This certification is particularly suitable for businesses that are working towards ISO27001 and want a stepping stone, or for those that want to align to ISO27001 but perhaps don’t have the budget to go to a full certification. ISO 27001 Our expert in-house consultants will help your firm prepare for ISO 27001 certification audits. It is internationally recognised as the most comprehensive and detailed accreditation to help embed a healthy security culture within your business. The consultation focuses on all business areas and not just the IT department. Our execution experts can work with you to implement ISO27001 in a way that works for your business and can provide as much or as little support as you need from project plans, document templates to full implementation. Our professional assessors can even help you to book and prepare for your certification audits. To safeguard your business, use Lawyer Checker’s comprehensive products and services to arm you and your law firm with the right tools and information to be able to obtain the assurances you need to act in the best interests of your clients. Key contacts: Heidi Jenkins Key Relationship Manager at the Practical Vision Network including Lawyer Checker, Solve Legal Marketing and The Move Exchange. M: 0330 052 7588 E: heidi.jenkins@practicalvision.co.uk Mark Siwiec Business Development Manager (Cyber) at the Practical Vision Network including Lawyer Checker, Solve Legal Marketing and The Move Exchange. M: 03300529150 E: mark.siwiec@practicalvision.co.uk Address Suite 4, Wright House, 67 High Street, Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 0DP