How much would an IT security breach cost your law firm?
In 2020, cybercrime is considered the biggest threat to businesses around the world. Every business owner, small, medium or large, should be investing in cyber security as a priority. No company in this day and age is capable of trading or providing their services without IT systems and therefore a breach of your network which results in downtime will dramatically affect your bottom line. For some industries, such as those in the legal profession, the inability to access digital files could cost thousands of dollars per hour.
We know law firms across Australia require high levels of cyber security. However, from our experience with existing clients, this is an industry which is chronically unsecure. There are two main reasons for investing in IT security for law firms: to protect your own bottom line and to protect your clients. If your networks are down, you are unable to work and therefore unable to bill your clients, thus affecting your bottom line. Additionally, as lawyers, you will hold large amounts of sensitive information about your customers as well as restricted files which are not public record. Keeping this safe and secure should be of paramount importance for all legal firms.
Your clients trust you, as their lawyers, to treat their legal problems with respect, discretion and sensitivity. Part of that responsibility is keeping their files, physical and digital, secure behind impenetrable firewalls. We can help you keep all of your sensitive data safe and secure on your systems and minimise the risk of a breach.
In addition to keeping information safe, cyber security is also about keeping networks up and running and minimising any downtime. Lawyers charge by the hour, so if your systems are unusable, you are unable to do your work and therefore bill your clients. As an independent lawyer or small law firm, this could amount to a few hundred dollars lost per hour. The larger the law firm, however, the larger the loss. Law firms whose networks are down could be losing thousands or tens of thousands of dollars per hour.
Cyber security is not just about protecting systems from attacks. At the end of the day, attacks and breaches happen. Therefore, our cyber security service offerings go beyond strong firewalls using cutting edge technology. We also put in place plans for when the worst happens. While we do our best to prevent a cyber breach in the first place, we are also ready to deal with any disaster if and when it does happen.
Networks go down. This is a fact of life. Sometimes this is due to cybercrime but it can also be due to human error or simply hardware failure. It is not enough to just invest in your cyber security using a firewall. In fact, human error causes up to 52% of data losses. Therefore, we recommend you provide training for your staff to reduce the chances of this happening. However, no matter how much you invest in cyber security software and firewalls, as well as training your staff, breaches may still happen. And you need to be prepared.
In the event of an IT disaster, whatever the cause, recovery can be painful and costly. Not only will it cost you your hourly rate but there could be ongoing costs incurred when clients learn about the risk to their own security. As lawyers, you need to protect yourselves by making sure that the correct IT security is in place. We not only aim to minimise the risk but are able to step in at the moment of disaster to minimise the repercussions.
With our disaster and recovery plan from our business continuity experts, your data will only ever be 6 seconds away. That’s right: 6 seconds. Whatever happens, whatever the reason, we can get your business back up and running fast, minimising your downtime and maximising your profits. In the event of a security breach, Otto IT can get your law firm back up and running promptly so your work and ability to bill your clients is not compromised and your reputation remains intact.
To find out more about our IT services, specifically how we are able to assist within individual industries such as law firms, get in touch with Otto IT. We provide tailored IT services and security systems designed specifically for your business, team and client requirements.
Jordan is the Chief Commercial Officer at Otto. Jordan is here to help clients remove roadblocks and achieve the business goals they’ve set out. Jordan’s biggest focus is Customer Experience, Business Relationship Management, Risk Management and Strategy.
