Data security matters more than ever for in-house legal counsel – how not to put your legal data at risk

With the global expansion of remote working and increased reliance on digital technologies to support every type of business, it’s no surprise that data security has risen to the top of the boardroom agenda. The issues associated with data security are particularly prominent in the minds of legal counsel, since in-house legal teams are frequently required to help organisations manage and recover from crises, including data breaches.

Why does data security matter?

Most organisations today rely on data. That means any loss of data, whether caused by cyber-attack or human error, poses a huge risk to the business. The impacts include significant time, cost and resources spent responding to and recovering from an incident, as well as the potential loss of revenue and long-term reputational and financial damage.

Real data security risks for European legal departments

The recent Data Breach Preparedness Study sponsored by Experian and conducted by the Ponemon Institute found that 49% of European businesses had suffered a data breach involving the loss or theft of more than 1,000 records in the past two years. Almost half of data breaches were caused by a remote workforce (43% of European respondents). The shift towards remote working in the wake of the pandemic has increased the risks to data – and no legal team or business can afford to ignore them. 

In the legal profession, the highly confidential and sensitive nature of the data being handled internally (and with law firm suppliers) makes it especially important to protect. And in an industry where your reputation is one of your most valuable assets, any data security incident that undermines that reputation is potentially devastating.

Concerns about the risks to data among Chief Legal Officers were highlighted in the CLOC 2021 Survey by the Association of Corporate Counsel. It reported that – for the third consecutive year – Chief Legal Officers rated cyber security, compliance and data privacy as the most important issues faced by businesses.

How to choose legal solutions that protect your data

To protect valuable data, legal firms need to ensure their IT security protocols are as robust and effective as possible. Key to that is ensuring the software and systems you use offer the highest levels of data safety. Even the most technology-savvy legal operations managers may not be experts in data security. But there are some key features you should look out for in any legal software you choose:

• Single jurisdiction hosting: this ensures that once you’ve chosen the geographical location for your datacentre, your data never leaves that country.

• Banking grade encryption: using the latest algorithms to encrypt data wherever it is stored, accessed or transmitted – whether on disk, on the network or in the database.

• Secure cloud hosting: choose applications that can be hosted securely on your own data centre (private cloud) or certified data centres (public cloud) or a hybrid of these.

• Regular audits, pentests and certifications – compliance with recognised global certifications and standards, including ISO27001, ISO 9001 and GDPR, provides peace of mind in the security and reliability of your software.

Further advice can be found in our in-house legal tech data security checklist and here: Legal spend management software can help mitigate data breaches.

Now is the time to secure your data

As the new financial year approaches, now is a perfect time to get your data security protocols in order. New vulnerabilities and data breaches hitting the headlines recently are a timely reminder of the risks posed to data and the need for constant vigilance. Throughout Europe, data protection plays a central role for legal departments and is a top priority for corporate governance. As you set your legal tech budgets for the year ahead, make sure data security is at the top of your shopping list.

Developed for superior data security

The legal operations software provided by BusyLamp has been developed with enterprise data security terms front of mind. That means the matter and billing data handled by our solutions are subject to the highest security standards.

What’s more, BusyLamp has been recognised again by Hyperion Research as an Enterprise Legal Management Advanced Solution in its MarketView™ Report. The report gave special recognition for our data privacy policies, highlighting our robust data privacy features, including geographic data segregation options and automated data classification and retention tools.

Your data in safe hands

When it comes to eBilling software that helps you to reduce costs and operate more efficiently, you can be confident that BusyLamp offers market-leading standards of data protection and security to safeguard the confidentiality of your matters and the reputation of your business.

Request a demo to find out how BusyLamp can enhance your legal operations safely, securely and compliantly.