Compliance in the Legal Sector
How Microsoft Azure AD can Protect your Data
Why is compliance so important in the legal sector?
Compliance in the legal sector is held to a high standard. Failure to comply can result in detrimental legal consequences, even disbarment.
In 2022, a London-based law firm faced a €115,000 penalty for a data breach that occurred in 2020. The firm had failed to take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, which resulted in a malicious attack. Not only did the firm face financial impacts, but the attackers also managed to encrypt just under 1,000,000 individual files. The files, which were published to underground data marketplaces, contained highly sensitive data, such as medical records, witness statements, personally identifiable information of witnesses and victims and alleged crimes.
Law firms must commit to protecting client data to reduce the risk of financial, legal and reputational damage. To help solve the challenge, firms have begun implementing and deploying modern working processes and cloud technologies to protect employees and clients from cyber criminals.
Why are law firms implementing Microsoft Azure AD to support compliance?
Enabling User Security
The protection of your data starts with your employees. They act as the gateway to sensitive information and misusing systems can result in accidental data leaks. Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is an enterprise identity service that prevents cyber-attacks at the source. Implementing single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and conditional access reduces the risk of successful brute-force attacks on users directly.
Business Continuity
In the event of a cyber-attack or data breach, data needs to be secured quickly and efficiently to minimise damage. Azure offers an end-to-end backup and disaster recovery solution. Allowing firms to regain business services in a timely manner. Safeguarding the recovery of data against accidental deletion, corruption, and ransomware.
Compliance Manager Tool
Implementing Microsoft Purview, as part of Azure AD, introduces a convenient path to compliance for your specific requirements through:
- Managing all compliance activities from a single location allowing you to carry out continuous risk assessments of where your data is stored and who has access to it.
- Including assessments for common industry standards and regulations and offers custom assessments to meet the most unique requirements.
- Measuring your posture and progress with the risk-based compliance score, with real-time alerts for improvements.
- Suggesting continual step-by-step guidance to help you comply with the requirements most relevant to your firm.
Microsoft’s security solutions are an industry-recognised leader. Their commitment to continual improvement and cybersecurity means your firm can focus on growing the business whilst remaining compliant.
See Microsoft's Industry RecognitionsReady to speak to an expert?
To learn more about how Microsoft Azure can benefit your firm, reach out to our team, who can understand your specific business needs.
