Intelligence agency GCHQ has issued a dossier warning law firms they are prime targets for cyber attacks from hostile nations.
The National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, described the threat to the legal sector as ‘significant’, in a report last week, The cyber threat to UK legal sector.
It noted that 60% of law firms reported a cyber security incident in 2017. Lawyers could be targeted by nation states and political or ideological groups as well as organised criminals, the report said, because they hold confidential client information as well as large funds and are often involved in a key role in business transactions.
Political groups, for example, could attack firms acting for organisations engaged in work of a controversial nature, such as life sciences or the energy sector.
