Prepare for and plan against a cyberattack

Prepare for and plan against a cyberattack

By John Bandler

Originally published in the July 2018 ABA Journal, and now reproduced here. This article is not updated but remains timely.

The online title was "Prepare for and plan against a cyberattack" and the print edition title was "Preparing today for tomorrow's attack"

Imagine this (not-so-outlandish) scenario: Your law practice has suffered a data breach. Your email accounts, computers or networks have been compromised and your confidential data is no longer confidential. It doesn’t matter how it happened—whether it was a cyberattack, a phishing scam or simply human error. If you are the victim, then you have to respond and protect yourself, your firm and your clients from further harm. If your client was victimized, you might get a frantic call seeking advice.

The best and most effective way to avoid a worst-case scenario is to have a structure already in place to deal with and respond to cyberincidents. Failure to prepare is preparation for failure, and lawyers must invest time toward incident response planning before a breach occurs. Planning for a data breach may seem less fun than preparing for a serious traffic collision, but it comes with benefits that include knowledge, prevention and better response. Contemplating the consequences of a serious cybercrime allows us to properly allocate time and money toward avoiding it.

Good incident response planning and good cybersecurity go together and are continual processes. Planning starts before the breach—just like driver’s education starts before the imminent traffic accident. When it is time to take emergency evasive action, you already should know how to use the steering wheel and brake. After the collision, you should know what to do, including whether you are allowed to leave the scene or must notify the police.

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Click here to read the full article, hosted on this website

 

Original article published July 2018, ABA Journal, and one way to cite it is:

• John Bandler, Prepare for and plan against a cyberattack, American Bar Association Journal, July 2018, available at http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/prepare_plan_against_cyberattack and https://johnbandler.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Bandler-ABA-Journal-Preparing-for-Tomorrows-Attack-2018-7.pdf

This article is static and will not be updated.

See my more recent articles, such as my Reuters articles.

This page is hosted at https://johnbandler.com/prepare-for-plan-against-cyberattack, copyright John Bandler, all rights reserved.

This page updated 10/7/2024