As more information breaks on the Paradise papers story, Ilia Kolochenko, CEO at web security company, High-Tech Bridge commented below, who is an application security and cybercrime expert, member of Forbes Technology Council and currently pursuing his Master of Legal Studies degree.
Ilia Kolochenko, CEO at High-Tech Bridge:
“Seems that this is another major hacking case where intruders won’t be found and prosecuted. Notwithstanding the allegations of wrong-doing offshore, a crime cannot be justified by investigation of unlawful activities. Victims should explore various legal avenues to claim damages, which may be quite significant.
Law firms have become a very attractive target for cybercriminals. Hacking of their clients is quite costly, will likely be detected and investigated, and almost certainly will cause very serious counter-actions. Many law firms still carelessly rely on the law for data protection, but this is in vain. Paucity of financial resources and lack of qualified personnel preclude law enforcement agencies from investigating and prosecuting the vast majority of crimes committed in digital space. This creates a very dangerous atmosphere of unlawfulness and impunity in the Internet, undermining trust in the government and its ability to protect our society.
It may be a good moment to think about imposing obligatory data security standards on law firms and practicing attorneys. Their data deserves at least the same level of protection as data of companies under PCI DSS or HIPAA compliance. Otherwise, visiting attorneys will become a very risky practice.”
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