3 ways to secure your law firm’s information and reputation

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3 Ways to Secure Your Law Firm’s

Information and Reputation


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Introduction

• As competition within the legal environment intensifies, law firms are

constantly looking for ways to differentiate their services.

• While many consider their reputation as their greatest asset that took

years to build, there are a few key elements that underpin this, one of

which is security.


• It is this robust security that can prevent issues such as data breaches

which in turn will destroy your reputation at the snap of a finger.

• It is not only the law firms who understand the need for data protection

and security, clients and consumers are becoming much more savvy and

are realising that they too, need to protect their own.

Introduction


• With newspapers filled with stories of hackers attacking large

multinational companies and mobile devices with sensitive data being

lost or stolen, security is fast becoming a top priority for most

businesses today.

Introduction

Here are 3 ways to secure your law firm’s

information and reputation


Secure your Workflow Environment

1. Secure your Workflow

Environment


As the mobile workforce expands, sensitive documents now need to be

created, shared, stored and printed both in and outside of the office.

Security measures should be applied throughout the different document

processes within a firm’s workflow as this information travels. This includes:

• Data encryption

• Limiting access to sensitive data

• Secure scanning and printing

• Internet endpoint security

1. Secure your Workflow Environment


Data encryption

• Each laptop, tablet, mobile phone and other printing and file sharing

device that is connected to the corporate network brings some security

risks. And with the growing numbers of devices, firms should encrypt

their documents at all stages of the workflow whether the data is at

rest or is in transit.

• Encryption can - and should - be applied to data when it is stored in the

user’s hard drive, or when it is sent to a printer, scanned to an email

exchange server or to a Cloud based file storage system, or even when

uploading and downloading to and from a mobile devices.



Limiting access to sensitive data

• To avoid sensitive information being disclosed, permissions within files

and folder settings should be changed, allowing access to only those who

are authorised.



Secure scanning and printing

• Many printers and scanners use ‘pull printing’ to force users to

authenticate themselves before releasing a document.

• This is done by entering a pin code or using a smartcard and ensures that

confidential documents are not accidentally retrieved by unauthorised

colleagues, or left abandoned on the printer.



Internet endpoint security

• With the increase in devices connecting to the corporate network, an

endpoint security solution protects firms from viruses and hackers and

helps IT departments monitor, control and moderate how or what

information employees receive, send or access through the internet.

• This management tool helps create feasible policies and guideline based

around internet access, blocked websites, application and the use of social

media in the workplace.




2. BYOD, Mobility & Security


• The trend of mobile workers using their own devices (BYOD) is rising.

• Employees store documents on consumer Cloud based applications

which are not always secure but conveniently provides access to

documents at all time from outside the office.

• However, it is the fact that these documents now reside outside of the

corporate firewall and well out the law firm’s control that is the cause

for concern.



• Secure file sharing technologies allow encrypted files to be stored, shared

and accessed on mobile devices.

• It acts as a back-up for important documents within an environment that

the IT team is in full control of.

• There are varying grades of security from basic SSL to high end military

grade level, but the minimum that a law firm should considered is an ISO

27001 accredited server which conforms to industry best standards when it

comes to information security management.



• Encrypted data when data is transferred how do you guard against security

threats? File encryption technology can automatically and transparently

encrypt files and folders placed on file servers and can only be read and

modified by those who have an encryption key.



• Remote Wipe data if a device is lost or stolen, the data contained within can

be wiped immediately.

• IT teams also gain centralised and granular level control of data and set

rules to restrict certain users accessing highly sensitive documents.




3. Internal & External

Communications


Internal communication

• Law firms need to assess and prioritise the risks that they face and establish a

strategy for their security requirements, which can then be implemented.

• However to execute this successfully, education and enforcement of measures,

guidelines and policies internally is an absolute must.

• It only takes a single rogue device to spread malware through the corporate

network.

3. Internal & External Communications


External communication:

• Cases of clients proactively asking law firms to demonstrate their security

measures and procedures as part of the tender process are becoming more

common.

• A recent example includes a global banking institution that holds sensitive

customer information that undertook an audit to evaluate the law firm’s

security procedures.



• Therefore if a law firm can show their clients that they comply with ISO 27001

standards or have transparent internal processes with a tight hold on security,

this should be communicated through client newsletters, pitch and tender

documents and other sales and marketing material.



• Employee mobility is on the rise, by the end of 2013 PC shipment will decline

by 10.6% and tablet shipments will increase by 67.9% (Gartner).

• The mobile revolution and inherent security issues can therefore no longer be

ignored as mathematically more mobile devices will filter through the

corporate network.

• Employees will increasingly use consumer devices if there is a lack of

education, control and technologies that support the way they work.

• Combined with the rise in cybercrime law firm need to jump on the security

bandwagon to make sure employees, clients and their data are protected

within the realms of a secure law firm.

Conclusion


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or clients. By combining ease of use and the level of security required in the exchange of working

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the application is available on premise or in cloud (SAAS), so you always keep full control of your

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For more information please visit www.nikecsolutions.com

Address:

52-54 Gracechurch Street,

London, EC3V 0EH

Contact numbers:

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7621 2350

Fax: +44 (0) 20 7621 2360

Email:

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Contact

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Technology

3 ways to secure your law firm’s information and reputation