Building Resilience to Cyber Crime

The increasing threat from cyber attacks on solicitor firms in Northern Ireland was highlighted with a timely event marking Cyber Week NI 2024.

180 members of the legal profession attended the online ‘Protecting your Practice from Cyber Threats’ event which was organised by the Law Society of Northern Ireland in partnership with National Cyber Security Centre, the PSNI Cyber Protect Network and the N.I Cyber Security Centre.

This initiative is part of an ongoing response to support solicitors in understanding and building resilience to key threats in this space. Those attending had an opportunity to hear practical advice and guidance from leading cyber experts on measures solicitor firms can take to prevent attacks and how best to respond, should one take place.

The National Cyber Security Centre provided attendees with an overview of cybersecurity best practice and the tools which can support the profession to be more cyber resilient. The PSNI Cyber Protect Network provided a regional overview of the cybersecurity landscape in Northern Ireland as it affects the legal sector.

Commenting, Sheelagh Walton, Member Services Development Manager at the Law Society said:

“The Society is grateful to National Cyber Security Centre, the PSNI Cyber Protect Network and the N.I Cyber Security Centre for their support in delivering this important online cyber event to local solicitors”.

#CyberWeekNI2024

Call, Check and Confirm leaflet

The Law Society of Northern Ireland has launched a new publication aimed at supporting solicitor firms and their clients in their fight against scammers.

The publication which updates the Society’s Call, Check and Confirm leaflet now focuses on ‘Money Transfers’.

Scammers are actively targeting email correspondence between solicitors and their clients in relation to the transfer of money by intercepting, misdirecting and defrauding the client into making payments into the scammer’s bank accounts.

The Society’s new leaflet reinforces the message that if you receive email correspondence or contact which is unexpected or requests a change in bank details or money transfer you should immediately call the other party, check they sent the email and confirm that matters are correct.

The new flyer is available to anyone to download from https://www.lawsoc-ni.org/new-call-check-and-confirm-leaflet-launched