A recent Marsh survey has found that “cyber threats are on the radar for most law firms in their overall risk management, yet many lack in their preparedness against a significant event” according to Marsh’s 2014 Global Law Firm Cyber Survey.
Law firms hold sensitive client information and a breach could effect “business transactions, halt a pending merger or acquisition, or damage relationships,” and could rack up significant financial costs related to notification expenses, business interruption and legal costs. 79% of those surveyed consider cybersecurity one of their top 10 risks, while a further 40% would consider it in their top 5. Other findings:
- “72% said their firm has not assessed and scaled the cost of a data breach based on the information it retains.”
- “51% said that their law firms either have not taken measures to insure their cyber risk (41%) or do not know (10%) if their firm has taken measures.”
- “62% have not calculated the effective revenue lost or extra expenses incurred following a cyber-attack.”