While the internet has made doing business convenient by stretching the reach of the services one can provide, it’s also created a new set of challenges. Before the internet, law firms were concerned with paper records and sending faxes. Now, they rely heavily on email and digital records storage. In a virtual law firm, these digital tools are not only convenient, but mandatory because of the nature of their business model. The online sending and management of data has created a need for digital safeguards and tools that weren’t previously considered.
With all the conveniences an online business delivers, the need to be aware of and prepared for online and digital security threats is growing. Here, we’ll go over the threats that your virtual law firm faces and how to protect your law firm’s case files and other important data from them.
Threats facing your case files
Running a virtual law firm means depending on technology to manage records, collaborate with coworkers and communicate with clients. As all of these activities take place online, the data associated with each is vulnerable to data loss and manipulation due to viruses, employee error, device failures, physical damage and more. Below are some of the ways these threats can infiltrate your firm, and how to defend against them.
Human Error
The integrity of your files matters, especially when you depend on them to run a your law firm remotely. While there are many technical and physical threats to data, one of the most common forms of data loss is accidental changes or deletion as a result of employee error.
Someone on your team could make an irrevocable change to a file, change the name of a file rendering it unsearchable, accidentally delete a file, or expose sensitive information to unauthorized parties. Each of these possibilities can mean being unable to retrieve the information you need, or penalties if data is exposed.
How to build defenses against human error:
- Educate employees on safe data handling, especially email sending where unauthorized access occurs frequently
- Keep previous file versions of your data stored so that you can revert to them if a change is ever erroneously made
- Keep an online backup of all the files in your system so they can be remotely restored if deleted
- Use a secure email provider that has an unsend feature (this comes in handy when you’ve sent an email to the wrong party)
Viruses
Arguably one of the scarier data threats, viruses and malicious activity should also be considered and prepared for when running a virtual law firm, or any virtual office.
There are many types of viruses — some lock users out of their computers, limit access to data, or encrypt the user’s data rendering it unreadable. Viruses can be transmitted over WiFi, through website, or through malicious links.
How to build defenses against malicious activity:
- Install a professional antivirus program and run frequent scans
- Install an antispyware program and run frequent scans
- Educate employees on safe web surfing guidelines (ie: which links are safe to click)
- Keep offsite copies of all data so that it can be restored in place of the corrupted data — it’s important that these copies include previous file versions so that you can restore the most recent version of the data prior to the time the virus was contracted
Device Failures and Damage
A virtual law firm is only as good as its devices. Running a virtual law firm often involves a combination of laptops, computers, and external hard drives for everyday operations and storing data. Many law firms make the mistake of believing their devices will be 100 percent reliable, 100 percent of the time. However, this is not the case.
Computers and removable storage devices can become physically damaged due to fires and floods, or may even stop functioning for technological or software related reasons. When they do, your virtual law firm will need to have a plan in place to recover the data that was stored on them and to get back up and running as soon as possible.
How to build defenses against device failures and damage:
- Never rely on physical device storage alone
- Keep an off-site backup of all your business data. If your devices ever fail you, you can fall back on your backup to get back up and running again with very little downtime
An all-in-one solution to digital and physical threats
While you can’t prevent an employee from making an error, prevent downloading a virus, or prevent your devices from failing, you can prevent them from negatively impacting your day to day operations.
To recover quickly from any of these threats, your firm simply needs to have a solution in place for salvaging and restoring data in the aftermath. Mistakes happen and the unexpected happens — but you can prepare for it and react appropriately by having the right plans in place.
The most valuable tool to have at your disposal during any of these data threat scenarios is a cloud backup solution. Cloud backup creates a backup for all the computers in your virtual law firm, for the data you indicate, allowing you to always have access and the ability to restore your case files and other critical data.
Some features that make cloud backup the perfect preventative action against data threats include:
- Unlimited previous file versions
- Continuously synced data backup
- Unlimited computers
- Off-site, redundant backups
- End-to-end 256-bit encryption (so data can only be viewed by authorized users)
- Remote data retrieval and restore
Running a law firm remotely and managing case files safely doesn’t have to be difficult. With cloud backup, your data will always be safe, retrievable, and ready to restore when you need it. Nordic Backup provides law firms with all of the cloud backup features listed above, making it a robust online data backup solution that has protected case files for dozens of legal clients.
Review our cloud backup plans to find the cloud backup solution that fits your firm’s data backup needs.
