Data security for law firms: Implementing an information security policy

The systems and tools required for law firms to protect client information are changing dramatically. Today’s modern law firms are moving to implement advanced secure document solutions to address external and internal security threats that meet clients’ security expectations. This includes removing open access to information — where most users have access to documents and other work product by default — and replacing it with a system of “need-to-know” access.

At iManage, we work closely with law firm and corporate legal department clients around the globe every day. We strongly recommend the implementation of a need-to-know information security policy, rather than utilizing the traditional open approach. This need-to-know policy enables firms of all sizes to keep critical information safe, reduce the damage caused by a successful breach and pass strict client security audits.

It’s important for attorneys to take cybersecurity measures sooner rather than later to prevent breaches — once a breach occurs, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to limit the damage concerning content exposure and firm reputation. Here are three top tips we want to share as best practices to help law firms make this transition more effectively:

Ensure all work product can only be accessed in a secure manner. Firms need to encrypt their work product — not just when it is at rest but also while it is in motion. They also need to make sure users who can access documents and data are both authorized to do so and authenticated (via two-phase or multifactor authentication, for example), to be who they say they are.

Strictly manage access to work product. Firms must ensure users can only access what they really need to know by implementing strict policies that limit access to and between data sets. As we stress with our law firm clients, they should build the policy with the expectation that a breach is inevitable.

Analyze all work product activity. Firms also need to enforce access as well as analyze activity to determine if there has been a breach. There are powerful adaptive behavioral modeling and machine learning-based tools that could indicate that an attack is ongoing or a malicious employee is operating inside the firm.

As we move into a world where need-to-know security is becoming more non-negotiable, firms today require a better way to manage the increasing volume and complexity of security policies. iManage offers secure document solutions that allow law firms to easily manage content and security practices. Learn more about security and information governance solutions from iManage or download our recent whitepaper.

Learn more about secure file sharing for attorneys from iManage 

Too many corporate legal departments and large law firms struggle to implement strict need-to-know cybersecurity measures into their everyday document management and file sharing solution. In a world where new cyber threats are being uncovered all the time, attorneys need to take special precautions to maintain data security and client confidentiality.

iManage’s award-winning secure document solutions for law firms allow today’s leading legal professionals to manage and share files securely and confidently. With iManage’s data security solutions, your law firm can:

• Manage users permissions to view and share content for increased need-to-know information security
• Guard files with encryption that protects against both external and internal threats
• Ensure that all document sharing is handled efficiently and securely to protect against the growing number of data security threats

More details on law firm data security and information governance solutions from iManage can be found here.

iManage’s secure document solutions include:

• iManage Security Policy Manager — Easily manage global security policies at scale, including need-to-know access, ethical walls and internal segregation to minimize the impact of a security breach.
• iManage Threat Manager — 24/7 continuous protection of sensitive data from internal and external threats from any device anywhere.
• iManage Records Manager — Manage physical and electronic assets for retention and governance.

Contact iManage to further discuss how iManage solutions, designed with input from hundreds of users to ensure superior usability, helps professionals improve productivity, make better decisions, and work smarter.