Welcome to the “Cybersecurity Loop” – Edition #12

Every few weeks, I share a quick pulse on what's happening in the world of cybersecurity, framed for law firm leaders and risk stakeholders across Australia. Think of it as your boardroom-ready headline brief: short, sharp, and trusted.

Here's what's hot this month — and what you should be thinking about.

🧨 HOT this month - July 2025

July has been a watershed moment for cybersecurity in the legal sector. The 2025 Integris Report shows that 37% of clients (https://integrisit.com/law-firm-cybersecurity-2025-report/) are willing to pay a premium for firms with strong cybersecurity measures, fundamentally shifting how we think about cyber investment from cost centre to competitive advantage.

Meanwhile, June 2025 saw 33 publicly disclosed cyber security incidents, including the leak of 16 billion user credentials compiled from years of infostealer malware and previous breaches. The message is clear: the threat landscape is intensifying, but client expectations are rising even faster.

What's particularly concerning is that AI is accelerating the speed of cyberattacks, with break out times now often under an hour. So lets think about that, if your security operations team are unable to detect suspicious activity in minutes and act on it you could be in trouble. For law firms handling time-sensitive matters, this compression of response windows demands immediate attention to detection and response capabilities.

🔐 Cyber Bytes - 4 Stories worth noting

1. AI-Powered Attacks Reach New Sophistication - In 2025, we are likely to see more cybercriminals utilising AI to launch more targeted and automated attacks. AI could be used to create deepfake videos or voice recordings to trick lawyers or clients into authorising financial transactions or sharing sensitive data. The legal sector needs to prepare for social engineering attacks that bypass traditional detection methods through hyper-realistic impersonation.
2. The Healthcare Sector Under Siege Sets a Warning for Legal - June was notable for a surge in ransomware disruptions across the healthcare and government sectors, with attackers specifically targeting sectors that hold high-value personal data. Law firms share similar data profiles and should expect increased targeting based on these patterns.
3. Supply Chain Vulnerabilities Expanding - Attacks on The North Face and Gluestack demonstrated how credential reuse and malicious code injection remain active and dangerous vectors. The Qantas data breach story continues to unravel but is a sharp reminder that it doesn't matter how big an organisation you are the complexities of supply chains can hurt if not properly governed, causing significant damage. Law firms, in particular, have extensive vendor ecosystems that create multiple attack surfaces, requiring constant monitoring and assessment.
4. Compliance Costs Rising Globally - The growing patchwork of data privacy regulations across the U.S., many of which are similar and overlap, will continue to increase compliance burdens on organisations. With NIS2 and DORA implementations alongside local Australian requirements, compliance costs are becoming a significant budget consideration for multinational law firms.

Tool

I've recently updated the cybersecurity response kit that was published last week in Lawyers Weekly.