Peer to Peer Magazine

22 B Y K E N N Y L E C K I E L aw firms have continued to embrace and implement change at a faster rate over the last five to seven years than I've noticed in my 27 years in this industry. The reasons? Security, data privacy and ethics. This uptick in changes in recent years has been made possible by one tried- and-true principle: Until something matters to you personally, you'll never change. What is it about security, data privacy and ethics that matters to law firm decision makers, and why are these things driving big changes in legal? Let's look at each one individually. Security Unless you're living under a rock, you've noticed that security threats are everywhere, and the threat landscape has and will continue to grow, evolve and become more sophisticated. It's no surprise that cyber criminals consider law firms high-value targets. Law firm clients have noticed this as well and are holding their representation to higher standards. What matters to law firms is under attack: client relationships, trust and reputation. This is causing law firms to run decisions through a "security" filter like never before. Security is influencing day-to-day operations, processes, procedures, protocols, technolo solutions and connectivity options. Having multifactor authentication (MFA) would have caused a rebellion years ago but is now considered the norm. Locking down desktops and implementing best practices for application configurations are policies being embraced and adopted in law firms where they would have lost the "convenience battle" only a few years ago. Security has captured the minds of law firm decision makers because a lack of security can result in lost clients, reputational damage and bottom line impact. The continuing result is that law firms are no longer the perceived weak or soft target. Law firms have rallied to fortify their security posture. All three areas of a strong security posture — secure technolo 1 3 Drivers of Big Changes in Legal Security, Data Privacy, and Ethics

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