The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/230349
WHAT'S LEGAL IT'S GREATEST SECURITY THREAT? by Charlie Magliato of Biscom During ILTA's 2013 annual conference, we took the pulse of legal IT professionals by asking them about their greatest security challenges. The poll was a succinct two-questions long: • What is your greatest security concern this year? • What measures are you taking to protect your data? Mobile device access led the pack by an overwhelming margin at 37 percent, with third-party collaboration sites such as Dropbox clocking in at 18 percent. This was not unexpected considering the proliferation of personal mobile devices (aka BYOD) currently used by attorneys to access firm data. Three technologies led the pack when it came to protecting firm data: secure file transfers (52 percent), email encryption (50 percent) and mobile device management (MDM) (43 percent). The challenge of protecting confidential client data on mobile devices boils down to addressing the two primary security vulnerabilities. The first is leakage of corporate or protected data outside of sanctioned mobile device apps. The second is transferring confidential data from the mobile app to external parties using unsecured methods such as personal or corporate email and consumer-based file-sharing services. Mobile device management and secure file-sharing technology combine to WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST SECURITY CONCERN THIS YEAR? 6.5% Password management 18% Third-party collaborative sites (e.g. Dropbox) 37% Mobile access to data 13% Security awareness training 6.5% Compliance with government and Short password, privacy regulations sharing passwords, using unauthorized software, sharing confidential information 10.9% 8.7% Hackers make up two important weapons in IT's arsenal for locking down potential leakage and providing a highly secure but intuitive approach to protecting the storage and transfer of corporate and client data on mobile devices. WHAT MEASURES ARE YOU TAKING TO PROTECT YOUR DATA? 52% 50% 43% 40% 27% 26% 22% 20% 0% c Se ur e fi le t ra ns fe r Em a il M e nc ob p ry il e d tio n ic ev em a Bl na oc m ge k in en t fi ga le - s r ha o Tw in gs -fa c ite r to au th t en ic a D tio n a at lo ss p v re en tio n IT faces three potential points of entry for firm data on mobile devices. The most utilized is email. Once received as an email attachment, an uncontrolled file can find its way to any sanctioned or unsanctioned business or personal app. The second is via any one of the myriad personal file-sharing services (such as Dropbox) used to download and sync files to the device. The third is accessing firm data via unsecured Web browsers. Leading MDM solutions offer centralized policy management to control file access on a mobile device by containing the movement of files to authorized firm and third-party apps. Should the device be lost or stolen, this containerization allows for a selective wipe of firm data without impacting personal files. Secure file-transfer apps controlled by MDM policy address the second vulnerability by offering an alternative to email and consumer-based file-sharing/syncing apps for the mobile device exchange of confidential files. These technologies are important additions to legal IT's arsenal of security solutions. Peer to Peer 99