For many years, Sharon Nelson and John Simek have hosted the Digital Detectives podcast to bring practical advice and much needed guidance to help attorneys protect their law firms. In this, their final episode, they finish off with yet another round of current stats on cybersecurity issues and the measures to take to ensure your data’s safety. Sharon and John’s good friend David Ries joins them for this last conversation, where they explain the latest threats and give advice for improving security practices to protect the future of your law firm. 

Thank you, Sharon and John, for all the time, energy, and dedication you have poured into Digital Detectives. We wish the best for both of you in your retirement! Your parting words to us should be echoed back to you—please take care of yourselves and each other. 

If you should ever need Sensei’s digital forensics, managed technology and managed cybersecurity services, find them at senseient.com.

David G. Ries is Of Counsel in the Pittsburgh PA office of Clark Hill, PLC, where he practices in the firm’s Cybersecurity, Data Protection and Privacy Group.

A strong foundation for your law firm should be built on sensible cybersecurity policies and procedures. What should that look like? Sharon Nelson and John Simek have a conversation with Mike Maschke about best practices for establishing effective security for your business. Mike walks listeners through a variety of security considerations to be aware of and explains staff training needs, Zero Trust Architecture, keeping software current, encryption protocols, and much more. 

Mike Maschke is the chief executive officer and director of cybersecurity and digital forensics at Sensei Enterprises, Inc.

Whether you’re willing to admit it or not, no firm is too small to be a target for hackers. Each and every one—from large firms all the way down to solo attorneys—is susceptible to cybersecurity incidents. So, how do you avoid becoming a statistic? Sharon Nelson and John Simek talk with Mark Bassingthwaighte about the bad tech habits of law firms that lead to breaches and what to do to fix your security vulnerabilities. 

Check out these resources from today’s conversation: 

• Social Engineering Awareness Training
• Vishing – An Old Scam with a New Twist
• KnowBe4 Blog
• SANS.org
• OUCH! Newsletter
• SenseiEnt.com

For more on cyber security risk mitigation from ALPS, subscribe to the ALPS Blog at: https://blog.alpsinsurance.com/blog-subscribe

Mark Bassingthwaighte, Esq. has been a Risk Manager with ALPS, the nation’s largest direct writer of lawyers’ malpractice insurance, since 1998.

AI is capable of doing so many things in the legal tech world, not least of which are its uses in digital forensics. Sharon Nelson and John Simek welcome Shashi Angadi to discuss AI’s current applications in cybersecurity—including threat detection, analysis, evidence gathering, and more. Shashi offers real-world examples of AI at work and shares his thoughts on what we might expect in the future of generative AI technologies. 

Shashi Angadi is CTO at Exterro and one of its original co-founders.

We all know generative AI is making significant waves all over the world, but lawyers need to take a hard look at its implications in the law and their own legal practice. John Simek and Sharon Nelson welcome Doug Austin to discuss AI technologies and their impacts on attorneys. They cover notable legal cases, new ABA resolutions, the latest AI trends in legal practice, and much more. 

Doug Austin is an established eDiscovery thought leader with over 30 years of experience providing eDiscovery best practices, legal technology consulting, and technical project management services to numerous commercial and government clients.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Resolution 112 - American Bar Association  

Resolution 700 - American Bar Association 

Resolution 604 - American Bar Association 

The GPTJudge: Justice in a Generative AI World

Employees within your organization are likely a bigger risk to your cybersecurity than threat actors from without. Why? Because it very often takes an insider to let in an outsider. Sharon Nelson and John Simek talk with Mike Barnsback about prevention strategies for both internal and external threats. Mike explains common tactics employed by cyber attackers and how the right policies and training can protect your firm from a breach. 

Mike Barnsback is managing partner of O’Hagan Meyer in Alexandria, Virginia, where he counsels employers on issues concerning internal monitoring and data breach response obligations and procedures.

BakerHostetler’s latest data security report is here, and while the threat landscape is proving to be as consistent as ever, companies have been doing a better job at identifying and containing breaches more quickly. Sharon Nelson and John Simek dig into the details of the report with Joe Bruemmer, helping listeners understand current data breach trends and how to best protect against attacks.

For more on BakerHostetler’s 2023 Data Security Incident Response Report check out the key takeaways or get complimentary access to the full report.

Joe Bruemmer is a partner in BakerHostetler’s Digital Risk Advisory & Cybersecurity Team and is the Ohio Digital Assets and Data Management leader.

The world’s ever-growing tsunami of digital data creates a huge need for technology capable of filtering it for modern e-discovery processes. So, what’s the best tool for the job? Sharon Nelson and John Simek talk with Andy Wilson about why AI is perfectly equipped to deal with massive data sets, saving people the time (and tedium) historically associated with discovery. Andy discusses current uses of AI in e-discovery and goes on to explain its applications in redactions, legal holds, audio review, transcriptions, and much more.

Andy Wilson is co-founder and CEO of Logikcull.

Mentioned in this episode:

Culling Reloaded: 10 New Ways to Be in Control of Your eDiscovery Reality

Is It Worth the Time? - xkcd

AI is already changing the legal profession, and law schools have a responsibility to stay on the cutting edge of this technology to equip future lawyers with all they need to know about its impacts and uses. Sharon Nelson and John Simek talk with Dean Andy Perlman about the current landscape of AI in legal practice and education. They discuss ChatGPT’s debut, shaping ethical and socially responsible uses of AI, the importance of embracing AI in legal education, and much more.

Andrew Perlman is the dean of the Suffolk University Law School and the inaugural chair of the governing council of the ABA Center for Innovation.

Cyber attacks are almost entirely responsible for today’s data breaches, and, increasingly often, the details of these breaches are vague—leaving security experts with a growing list of questions. Sharon Nelson and John Simek talk with James Lee about the Identity Theft Resource Center’s latest Data Breach Report. They discuss current trends, the challenges of nebulous data breach notices, and what all organizations should be on the lookout for in the coming year.

James E. Lee is Chief Operating Officer at the Identity Theft Resource Center.

There’s no “set it and forget it” for your law firm’s cybersecurity. Effective security is a continuing process, and the start of a new year is a great time to see how your firm is doing. Sharon Nelson and John Simek talk with David Ries about how to give your firm a cybersecurity checkup. They outline what lawyers need to include in their assessment and where to find reliable information on the latest security tools, training, resources, and statistics. 

David G. Ries is Of Counsel in the Pittsburgh PA office of Clark Hill, PLC, where he practices in the firm’s Cybersecurity, Data Protection and Privacy Group.