Peer to Peer: ILTA's Quarterly Magazine
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/1388375
29 I L T A N E T . O R G W orking remotely during the pandemic has revealed several weaknesses and chokepoints in home networking impeding client service delivery. Among those, one of the greatest challenges that legal technologists at law firms have faced in the past year is securing devices and data when working from home. This challenge continues to evolve as more firms need to protect all their assets within a hybrid work environment. Surveys and media reports indicate remote working is not going away with the inoculation of legal professionals. As some begin to return to office-based work, working-from-home and remotely is expected to remain a common workstyle. Thus, the next-level technology firms must invest in security that can be applied to devices anywhere. Below we will discuss the new security challenges law firms face, practical advice on addressing them with new technology, and adapting security practices through new training and education programs. Security Challenges: Home and Office Networks Vulnerable Home networks are not the same as those we use in our offices. Everything from the physical devices used to the security software deployed can be of a different caliber. Key limitations experienced during the pandemic include outdated and insecure home network equipment, home computers lacking security software and users failing to employ best-practices. Simultaneously, cyberthreats continue to evolve. Hackers have taken advantage of the uncertainties and new responses during the pandemic. There has been a 600% increase in the number of phishing attacks over just the past few months, which is a form of social engineering. These can include targeted emails, voice messages or texts which appear to be from legitimate sources but contain malware or may ask you to confirm video conferences or two-factor authentication codes. There have been a rise of fraudulent websites and banner adds which will lead you to fake application download links posing as legitimate video-conferencing services to steal your credentials. Of course, sitting in an office does not obviate information security or technology concerns. Indeed, where remote workers' technology is often highly mobile, office-based systems are more likely to be immobile, like desktops with monitors and other peripherals. Further, once a firm begins making its on-site resources available remotely, it introduces new security challenges, including: • Ransomware, which is a type of virus designed to encrypt your data, is increasing in popularity and sophistication. It is often disguised in the form of a seemingly legitimate document that, when opened, will encrypt your data making it unusable. It can also spread throughout the network and affect file shares. • Cryptojacking, which is similar to other traditional viruses and malware. However rather than causing data loss or attempting to compromise user credentials, it uses the computer hardware to mine for cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency mining requires large amounts of processing power. Hackers can make money by secretly using other people's systems to distribute the load. This causes a strain on resources and can slow down even the most powerful servers. The increasing popularity and prices of cryptocurrency means that these attacks will continue to be a threat moving forward. • Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) gained national attention in 2020 when it was discovered