Cybersecurity audit for law firms: Protecting people, not just systems

Not all cybersecurity breaches start with code. Some start with a physical breach. It's easy to attack a network or server when you can simply plug into it. Walk through an unlocked door, find a workstation, insert a USB drive. Or shoulder-surf someone's password. Or tailgate into a restricted area where credentials sit unattended. The DOJ's Data Security Program compliance deadline just passed. Companies scrambling to meet it focused on digital protections: encryption, access logs, and vendor diligence. But those controls mean nothing if someone walks past your guard and sits down at a terminal. Data security and physical security aren't separate problems. They overlap constantly. A guard who doesn't verify credentials creates a data exposure risk. A guard who can't recognize social engineering becomes a vulnerability. A guard who doesn't report suspicious behavior leaves the door open, literally and figuratively. Defencify's training addresses both sides. Guards learn physical security protocols and data awareness fundamentals. They're trained to spot digital threats in physical spaces: unattended devices, unusual access patterns, credential misuse. You can't protect data if you can't protect the building.

Not all cybersecurity breaches start with code. Some start with a physical breach. It's easy to attack a network or server when you can simply plug into it. Walk through an unlocked door, find a workstation, insert a USB drive. Or shoulder-surf someone's password. Or tailgate into a restricted area where credentials sit unattended. The DOJ's Data Security Program compliance deadline just passed. Companies scrambling to meet it focused on digital protections: encryption, access logs, and vendor diligence. But those controls mean nothing if someone walks past your guard and sits down at a terminal. Data security and physical security aren't separate problems. They overlap constantly. A guard who doesn't verify credentials creates a data exposure risk. A guard who can't recognize social engineering becomes a vulnerability. A guard who doesn't report suspicious behavior leaves the door open, literally and figuratively. Defencify's training addresses both sides. Guards learn physical security protocols and data awareness fundamentals. They're trained to spot digital threats in physical spaces: unattended devices, unusual access patterns, credential misuse. You can't protect data if you can't protect the building.

The best time to audit your ePolicies? Every October. My advice for employers who want to reduce electronic risks: Take the initiative. Don’t wait for security, legal, or regulatory disasters to strike. October, Cybersecurity Awareness Month, is the ideal time to review your organization’s electronic risks, rules, and requirements. Security threats, laws, regulations, and tech tools are constantly evolving. It’s essential for electronic policies & procedures to keep pace.  Based on the results of your audit, update and implement comprehensive ePolicies governing all electronic messaging tools used by employees onsite and at home. TIP: Mark your calendar for next October to review & revise ePolicies during Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Cybersecurity Protection and Response Practice Group leader Alan Winchester discussed the rise in sophisticated cybersecurity threats and the need for businesses to prioritize security and awareness in a recent Long Island Business News article. “The technology is evolving faster than human behavior,” he said. “Culture matters. The best defense is a workforce that knows how to spot risk.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/e9-VycYi

Alan M. Winchester, leader of our Cybersecurity Protection and Response Practice Group, shares insights in Long Island Business News on how AI is reshaping cybersecurity risks, regulations, and corporate responsibility.

PRINCIPLE OF LEAST PRIVILEGE. The principle of least privilege is a cybersecurity concept that requires users, applications, and systems to operate with only the minimum access rights necessary to perform their specific tasks. This approach minimizes the attack surface, limits the potential damage from a security breach or accidental errors, and helps with regulatory compliance by restricting access to sensitive data and functions. 

Modern access control is cloud-connected, app-enabled and user-friendly, but without proper safeguards it can become a vulnerability. Best practices for securing access control systems: • Require strong passwords and rotate credentials regularly • Use encrypted readers and secure door controllers • Implement multi-factor authentication for admin access • Log and monitor all activity across users and endpoints From doors to data centers, SMS helps clients design access systems that support cybersecurity goals, not weaken them. 👉 securitymgt.com/contact

Cybersecurity laws are one of the most visible and fastest changing areas of security compliance, but it’s not the only one.  Physical security laws change constantly: states update guard licensing, regulators raise and change expectations, insurers demand more documentation, and courts redefine what guards are expected to do and be responsible for. Minimum compliance isn’t enough; guard training should include forethought of what might come next. Defencify’s online training is designed to train the guards of today and tomorrow. The standards we teach for your guards exceed “minimum” compliance standards; they are taught to be ready for the next stage of compliance.  Too often, cybersecurity teams scrabble to keep up with new regulations, even when those regulations were broadcast and foreseeable. Don’t let your physical security do the same thing.  Train your security team to be ready for the challenges of tomorrow, not just the challenges of today.

Cybersecurity without compliance is just one man's opinion.  NIST and CIS (to name a couple) have hundreds of hardening recommendations.  These security benchmarks have been developed over time by respected industry experts and published as a standard.  100% adherence to such standards is seldom required. Likewise, nobody is going to complain if your security efforts go above and beyond or extend further in a different direction. A security technician that can’t do a line-item assessment of these recommendations, likely hasn’t looked at them. And more likely, they are unaware/ignoring things that could cheaply and easily be locked down. It is, to be sure, laborious to do compliance audits. This is especially true when they are not strictly required. And it is a real ego boost when you are treated as the sole arbitrator of what is appropriate cybersecurity.    So, the next time you hear somebody drone on about “compliance isn’t security” dig deeper. Have they done their homework?  Do they have logical, thought-out reasons for going off in their own direction?  Or do just they prefer nobody looks behind the curtain? A technician or firm that is passionate about improving cybersecurity will not complain about studying such things. Others will complain, and remain uninterested in what the industry is doing. Still others (as my father would say) "will piss on your shoe and try to tell you it's raining."

There’s some good points here might take us that there is no cyber security with passwords. Passwords are the problem and if you’re gonna harden your network, there can be no passwords