Randy Evans and Shari Klevens write:
This year has shown that law firms are not immune from infiltration by international hackers. This spring, a Russian hacker targeted 48 top law firms, seeking to obtain confidential insider information regarding mergers and acquisitions that would be very valuable and could impact global markets.
[…]
These are not isolated incidents. The American Bar Association confirmed that, in 2015, approximately one quarter of all U.S. law firms with 100 or more lawyers had experienced a data breach through hacker or website attacks, break-ins, or lost or stolen computers or phones. In that same year, 15 percent of all law firms overall, regardless of size, had reported an unauthorized intrusion into the firm’s computer files, up from 10 percent in 2012.
Read more on The Recorder.
Of course, and as the authors seem to recognize, not all hacks are likely to make huge headlines. As DataBreaches.net learned, the same Russian hacker who hacked Man Alive clinic in Baltimore also hacked Hickey Law Firm in Florida. And as he did with Man Alive, he also issued a ransom demand: pay him 18 BTC by the end of this month or he will put all the data up for sale. In this case, he claims the data includes all of one of the lawyers’ emails, client information including SSN and date of birth, as well as wire transfer instructions and more.
As proof of the hack, “Return” provided DataBreaches.net with some of the files, including a photocopy of the owner’s driver’s license and images of the front and back of the owner’s business credit card, as well as copies of some wire transfer correspondence. He declined to explain how he gained access to their network, but commented that (the) “security of such a company must be at the maximum level, as it covers many different areas (insurance ,taxes, etc.).”
DataBreaches.net contacted Hickey Law Firm, who confirmed that they were aware of the breach and the ransom demand, but they declined to offer any statement as to whether they are notifying clients or not at this time. This post will be updated if more information becomes available.