Irish law firms facing down threat of cyber-attacks

The Law Society of Ireland has already issued security warnings and advice to its members.

Declan Branigan of IT security company eXpd8 told RTÉ News that the company has dealt with 14 law firms over the past three months.

The firms had been targeted with ransomware, software which disables a computer and demands a cash payment in order to unlock it.

Most ransomware cunningly encrypts the data stored on the hard drive, so that the only alternative to payment is restoring from a backup - or losing all of the data on the computer.

Mr Branigan stressed the importance of having up-to-date anti-virus software, web filters and a firewall to limit the risks.

One solicitor, speaking to RTÉ anonymously, said a cyber-attack threw his firm’s client account system in jeopardy and could have left the firm unable to identify 2,500 clients with funds held by the firm.

The solicitor restored the financial client accounts from a back-up system but did lose some data.