Fraud Prevention
The LAWPRO $250,000 cybercrime coverage: What it covers and why
As of the 2014 policy year, the LAWPRO mandatory insurance program will include express coverage in the amount of $250,000 for losses related to cybercrime, as defined in the policy. This sublimit (or cap) of coverage provides a modest “safety net” for lawyers in the area of cybercrime exposure. We say modest because like the… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention, LAWPRO Errors and Omissions CoverageThe six most common ways non-tech people fall victim to cybercrime
ZDnet’s article on the six most common ways non tech people can fall victim to cybercrime demonstrates how employees (or even management) with low levels of technical knowledge can be the weak spot in a firm’s cybersecurity strategy. Sometimes it may be just the individual that suffers the consequences, but potentially they can open the… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionProtecting Yourself from Cybercrime Dangers: Avoid the Dangers of Email
Email has become a primary communications tool for the legal profession. It allows virtually instant sharing of information and documents between lawyers and their clients. Email is also one of the most dangerous tools in a modern law office. Infected attachments, spam and phishing attacks delivered by email make it easy for cyber criminals to… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionCybercrime: Be ready with an incident response plan
Because a cybercrime attack can cause irreparable harm, law firms should be prepared to take action immediately. Being able to do this requires an Incident Response Plan (IRP). An effective IRP can put a firm in a position to effectively and efficiently manage a breach by protecting sensitive data, systems, and networks, and to quickly… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention, Risk Management & Claims PreventionThe facts on the overdraft protection in the LAWPRO policy
The expanded protection against counterfeit bank instruments was announced by LAWPRO in October 2009. This column by Kathleen Waters, President & CEO of LAWPRO, was in response to calls and emails form lawyers seeking clarification of how this coverage works. 1. This is an enhanced protection The Law Society insurance program has generally provided protection… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention, LAWPRO Errors and Omissions CoverageOntario firm narrowly avoids $500,000 email & phone hack attempt
An Ontario lawyer called to inform us of what appears to be an email hack attempt (similar to what is described here) against his firm and one of his clients, with the goal of diverting closing funds from a transaction into a different bank account. An email to the client appeared to come from this… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionLAWPRO Magazine archives: Funds handling – and the benefits of wire transfers
The recent increase in the number of frauds – many involving counterfeit financial instruments – have been a wake-up call to the bar on two fronts: First – fraudsters are targeting all lawyers, not only real estate practitioners. For more on this, see LAWPRO’s Fraud Fact Sheet. Second – that there is some confusion about… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionNew Phishing Attack Pretends to Be Bar Communication
The following warning was issued by Lawyers Mutual of North Carolina. We haven’t had any reports of this in Ontario yet, but lawyers should always be alert to phishing scams that try to trick them into opening an attachment or clicking a link that could instal malware. There is a new phishing scam targeting bar… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention