On a list of the most common targets for cybercriminals, courts of law would probably not rank highly, but that's changed as the justice system has become digitized. The Florida Supreme Court, in a pair of administrative orders issued last year, established a new cybersecurity policy and a cybersecurity administrative response team that it says are directly related to two "notable cybersecurity incidents that affected technology systems in two judicial circuits."
The incidents include a ransomware attack in February 2023 that also affected universities in the U.S. and Europe. A second attack followed in September that year, targeting Florida's First Judicial Circuit. Chief Judge John Miller told State Court Report, a legal news website, that the massively disruptive incident was "like a Category 5 hurricane. ... We honestly thought we were going to have to retry a five-day murder trial because we could not access the transcript."
Concurrently, the Florida Bar Association has taken a more vocal stance on cybersecurity, urging its members to develop and implement a "model incident response plan" in accordance with voluntary guidelines developed by the bar's cybersecurity experts. Citing American Bar Association research, the Florida Bar says cybersecurity breaches affected 29% of all U.S. law firms in 2023.
"In today's threat landscape, proactive planning is one of the most cost-effective strategies to protect client confidences and professional integrity," says Steven Teppler, co-chair of the Florida Bar's Committee on Cybersecurity and Privacy Law. Teppler is a partner at Mandelbaum Barrett, a New Jersey-based law firm that has offices in Florida and three other states. He's the firm's chief cybersecurity legal officer and leads its data privacy practice group.
According to Teppler, "data compromise, reputational harm and operational disruption" are major risks for law firms and courts that don't adopt and maintain a cybersecurity incident response plan. But proactivity is also required: Teppler's committee says data mapping and maturity assessments are key to an effective cybersecurity strategy. The former requires a full accounting of what data the firm or court has, where it is and how it moves around, while the latter involve regular reviews of the organization's network security and its ability to withstand new and evolving threats.
"Following these recommendations can help attorneys — regardless of practice size — prepare for, respond to and recover from cybersecurity incidents more effectively," Teppler says.