Member Article

Law firms could be leaking sensitive information

Sensitive and confidential information held by legal firms is at risk of exposure, because many companies do not check whether their employees adhere to security measures.

Research by information management outfit Iron Mountain, and PwC, found that 42% of legal firms surveyed across Europe did not know whether or not they had suffered a data breach in the previous three years.

More than half of respondents admitted that, despite introducing a strategy to manage information risk, they had failed to monitor its effectiveness.

A similar number had allocated responsibility for information risk management to a specific individual or team, but did not check performance.

Reputation, professional liability and exposure are at risk through these complacencies.

The survey covered senior managers at 600 leading European businesses to develop the Information Risk Maturity Index for mid-sized businesses.

Scores assessed across the legal, financial services, insurance, manufacturing and engineering, and pharmaceutical sectors suggest that many businesses are woefully unprepared to address and manage information risk such as data breaches, data loss and non-compliance.

The average score of European companies was 40.6 against an ideal score of 100, with the legal sector scoring an average of just 33.3.

Commenting on the survey results, Christian Toon, head of information security at Iron Mountain Europe said: “Our information risk study reveals a worrying level of complacency across the legal sector in Europe.

“There’s absolutely no point in pouring resources into information security if no one takes any notice.

“All the money and technology in the world will not protect your sensitive data if staff are not properly trained, monitored and supported so that information security is a responsibility that is front of mind. The drive for this must come from the very top of the business.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .