<div dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202792499281/DLA-Pipers-Hack-Attack-Could-Cost-Millions">http://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202792499281/DLA-Pipers-Hack-Attack-Could-Cost-Millions</a><div><br></div><div><p>DLA Piper is still recovering from <a href="http://t.sidekickopen61.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XZs4X9NxjW41Q3dC3SZ8B0F42Qjy24ldHf8s2mrb03?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanlawyer.com%2Fid%3D1202791614770%2FRansomware-Attack-on-DLA-Piper-Serves-as-a-Warning-Sign-for-Law-Firms&si=5165167453929472&pi=9386d6a7-95dc-40d0-a766-1c8b255c83b1" target="_blank">last week’s massive cyberattack</a>, with insurance brokers claiming that the resulting upheaval could lead to costs “in the millions” for the firm.</p><p>The global legal giant, which fell victim to the ransomware attack that spread across the globe starting on June 27, <a href="http://t.sidekickopen61.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XZs4X9NxjW41Q3dC3SZ8B0F42Qjy24ldHf8s2mrb03?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanlawyer.com%2Fid%3D1202792053258&si=5165167453929472&pi=9386d6a7-95dc-40d0-a766-1c8b255c83b1" target="_blank">is still grappling</a> with information technology problems some 10 days on from the attack.</p><p>“We
are bringing back services in a graduated way, and only as and when we
can be satisfied that the appropriate safeguards are in place,” DLA
Piper said in a statement.</p><p>Sources within the firm have told The
American Lawyer’s London-based affiliate Legal Week that many staffers
have started using their work computers again, while others are
continuing to work on personal laptops while their hardware is checked
over. Email is back online, but landline phones are still down, with
calls being diverted to cell phones.</p><div id="gmail-oas_x13"></div><p></p><p>DLA
Piper has officially notified the U.K.’s Solicitors Regulation Authority
of the cyberattack, as well as other international regulators, and the <a href="http://t.sidekickopen61.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XZs4X9NxjW41Q3dC3SZ8B0F42Qjy24ldHf8s2mrb03?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.legalweek.com%2Fsites%2Flegalweek%2F2017%2F06%2F28%2Fdla-piper-working-with-fbi-and-nca-to-get-systems-back-online-after-ransomware-cyber-attack%2F&si=5165167453929472&pi=9386d6a7-95dc-40d0-a766-1c8b255c83b1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">firm is working with law enforcement authorities</a> like the FBI and U.K.’s National Crime Agency to support their investigations into the matter.</p><p>The
firm said that it had also called in IT experts to restore its systems
and safeguard client data. “We are working with leading external
engineers and information security specialists, in addition to those
within our organization,” a DLA Piper spokesperson told Legal Week,
noting that the firm “has in place a range of different insurances
relevant to this incident.”</p><p>Lawyers and brokers state that <a href="http://t.sidekickopen61.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XZs4X9NxjW41Q3dC3SZ8B0F42Qjy24ldHf8s2mrb03?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.legaltechnews.com%2Fid%3D1202792464849&si=5165167453929472&pi=9386d6a7-95dc-40d0-a766-1c8b255c83b1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">appropriate insurance</a>
would cover many of the costs associated with this kind of attack,
including paying for external support, potential loss of income and the
costs of getting lawyers back online.</p><p>“The total direct and
indirect cost could be in the millions,” said Brett Warburton Smith, a
partner at independent insurance broker Lockton Solicitors, which acts
for 27 of the top 100 law firms in the U.K.</p><p>Philip Tansley, a
legal director with the U.K.’s Reynolds Porter Chamberlain who advises
companies and law firms on responding to cyber breaches, noted that he
counsels clients to make sure they have the right coverage.</p><p>“Cover
available in the market includes mitigation expenses, which might
cover, for example, the additional costs of working, such as getting
people set up working remotely, and outsourcing urgent work to third
party firms,” Tansley said. “In terms of loss and deferral of revenue,
that is a complex area. Firms should be careful that they have the right
cover and if they are not sure, discuss it with their brokers and
underwriters and ask them ‘if this happened, would you cover it and how
would you calculate our claim?’”</p><p>Janine Parker, head of U.K.
professions at Paragon International Insurance Brokers Ltd., said that
her company offers policies with a “full breach response,” including
loss of revenue.</p><p>“If any of our law firms suffered a cyberattack
they would have access to specialist law firms, to a [public relations]
firm, to claims for loss of income and loss of profit,” Parker said. “If
they lose a client due to an event during litigation, we would pay a
percentage of a success fee they would be due under a conditional fee
agreement.”</p><p>The size of policies on the market stretch up to $500
million, added Sarah Stephens, head of cyber at insurance broker Jardine
Lloyd Thompson Group plc.</p><p>“You could potentially buy anywhere
from [$300 million to $500 million], but generally if you are only
buying it to augment the third party liability cover in your
professional indemnity policy, you are looking at the likely loss from
business interruption so we would typically see policies of no more than
$100 million,” Stephens said.</p><p>The process of working out how much a breach will cost typically begins shortly after it has been discovered.</p><p>“The
insured, with the help of their broker, would look at the policy and
work out what the business interruption claim was, which the insurer
would then adjust,” said RPC’s Tansley. “The alternative approach is
that the insurers, knowing a large claim was on the way, would appoint
an adjustor or a forensic accountant to work with the insured to
establish what its loss is.”</p><p>Brokers and underwriters say that <a href="http://t.sidekickopen61.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XZs4X9NxjW41Q3dC3SZ8B0F42Qjy24ldHf8s2mrb03?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanlawyer.com%2Fid%3D1202752692874%2FAmid-Hacking-Threats-Law-Firms-Turn-to-Cyber-Insurance&si=5165167453929472&pi=9386d6a7-95dc-40d0-a766-1c8b255c83b1" target="_blank">cyber insurance is becoming increasingly common</a> throughout the legal market.</p><p>“We
have over 300 firms of solicitors that have purchased a cyber policy
from us, covering off the whole spectrum from two-partner law firms to
some of the largest law firms in the world,” said David Warr, a cyber
underwriter with QBE European Operations plc.</p><p>Lockton’s Warburton
Smith said that 50 percent of his firm’s top 100 clients now purchase
specialist cyber insurance projects, with many other clients now looking
into doing the same.</p><p>“We are getting calls virtually every day on
the back of this [the DLA hack] because people are really concerned
about it,” he said.</p><p>However, while larger firms have tended to be
more proactive in insuring themselves against cyber risks, many smaller
and midsize firms still rely on their professional indemnity (PI)
policies to protect them.</p><p>“The mandated wider cover of the minimum
terms for solicitors’ PI may have lulled the legal industry into a
false sense of security that they have insurance cover for cyber risk
and data breaches,” said Hans Allnutt, the London-based head of the
cyber response team at British firm DAC Beachcroft. “However, the
minimum terms are designed to protect clients—not a firm’s own exposures
to cyber risk.”</p><p>In the event of loss of client money or data, law
firms would typically be covered by their PI insurance, but this would
not stretch to loss of revenue or the costs of remediating the problem.
And Allnut warns that cyberattacks are becoming increasingly common.</p><p>“We
have seen a spike in breach instructions,” he said. “We are currently
running at about one a week; a year ago it was one a month and we expect
that to change to one every other day after the General Data Protection
Regulation takes effect next year.”</p><p>And while leading law firms
will now be doing everything in their power to protect themselves
against falling victim to a similar incident, the reality is that even
the best defended systems are still vulnerable.</p><p>“If the Pentagon
can be hacked, there is not much hope for the rest of us,” said Frank
Maher, a partner at Legal Risk LLP in Liverpool, England.</p><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><br><br clear="all"><div><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><b><span style="font-size:10pt"></span></b><span style="font-size:10pt"></span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"></span><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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