If clients can’t trust your law firm’s website with their personal information, then who can they trust? With more and more cybercrimes and data leaks happening left and right, law firms can’t afford to slack on cybersecurity.
With the right cybersecurity measures in place, your law firm can reduce headaches like hefty fines and penalties. But most importantly, you can prevent your clients’ confidential data from getting into the wrong hands.
We list five cybersecurity practices that can reinforce your law firm’s website.
Importance of Cybersecurity For Law Firms
Some of the largest companies in the world have dealt with cybercrimes and threats; imagine the impact on smaller businesses (like your law firm). There’s no denying that network security best practices should be at the forefront of all law firms. Here’s why:
- Builds trust with clients: Clients always come first. Nothing builds trust more than keeping important information safe on all fronts. If one client trusts you, more eventually follow.
- Protects your company: If cybersecurity fails, not only are your clients in jeopardy, but your company’s reputation as well. That’s a whole other nightmare you don’t want to deal with. Cybersecurity prevents even the tiniest incidents from snowballing into heavy fines, lawsuits, and major damage to your reputation.
- Improves conversion rates: You wouldn’t buy from a shop or website that lacked basic security measures. Law firms are no different: Greater security leads to greater conversions, which eventually leads to happy clients.
- Improves SEO performance: Google doesn’t play around when it comes to security. Security measures like SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates and HTTPS are like shiny badges of trust that Google looks for when ranking websites. The more secure your site is, the higher you can climb the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs) ladder, making it easier for potential clients to find.
5 Security Measures to Implement on Your Law Firm Website
Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of cybersecurity. We’ve covered five key practices that’ll turn your site’s cybersecurity up to eleven.
1. Quantum Security
Quantum security uses quantum mechanics to encrypt data transfers. Okay, big words aside, it’s a powerful tool that protects messages and information from being accessed by unauthorized users. Even if someone tries to intercept or eavesdrop on these messages, the involved parties are alerted.
Quantum security is based on quantum key distribution (QKD). Think of this as two parties having a key (that only they can use) to lock and unlock secret messages. It’s super resistant against any attack, making this one of the best ways for law firms to protect their clients’ data.
2. Upgrade to HTTPS/SSL Certification
SSL certificates act like an ID card which certifies that the website is legit. It also enables encryption measures to protect information being transferred from browser to server. By using SSL certificates, your website upgrades to HTTPS, which is even stronger and safer than HTTP. (HTTPS stands for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure.”)
SSL certificates aren’t all the same. A few variations include:
- Domain Validated (DV)
- Organization Validated (OV)
- Extended Validation (EV)
The Extended Validation (EV) certificate is the highest level of security — usually between 16 to 18 validation checks. For law firms, this might be your best bet.
If your law firm’s website starts with HTTPS, you’ll see a padlock in the URL, which is a great sign. This increases audience trust and signifies that your site is secure. When a site doesn’t have an SSL certificate, people see a “Not Secure” warning from Google. (Google started doing this in 2018.)
Not only that, but it also boosts search rankings on Google (and it has since 2014), so it’s a win-win.
3. Update Plugins
Updating your plugins isn’t just for functionality or aesthetics’ sake; doing so reduces the chances of vulnerabilities on your law firm’s website. Outdated plugins don’t have the same security standards as updated ones, allowing hackers to easily exploit their weak defenses.
Monitor your plugins at least once a month or enable automatic updates to save you the trouble.
Don’t forget to run a quick plugin test before updating to identify any last-minute issues.
Remove old or obsolete plugins as well. These won’t be of any help to your site and can still pose security risks, so it’s best to get rid of them altogether.
Case in point: Back in 2015, hackers found a Slider Revolution (RevSlider) plugin vulnerability, hacking thousands of websites. The total number of sites compromised was estimated to be around 100,000 WordPress websites.
4. Use a Secure Hosting Provider
Your website needs a good hosting provider, something that essentially gives your site a place to live. A good hosting provider is like a house with state-of-the-art security features. The more secure your hosting provider is, the safer your website is as well.
Find a hosting provider that pulls out all the stops to ensure maximum security. This includes firewalls, DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) protection, and malware scanning. All of these, plus automated backups keep digital assets safe.
5. Use Strong Passwords and Multi-Factor Authentication
Passwords are your first line of defense. Unfortunately, passwords are one of the easiest things for hackers to guess.
Strong passwords should be non-negotiable. Use a strong combination of numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and symbols; the more complex this combo is, the better. Passphrases are great examples of passwords that are too long and random for anyone to bypass.
Reusing passwords on multiple sites is unwise. If you run multiple sites, use unique passwords or passphrases for each. Secure password managers can help you keep track of these.
Use a password manager for easier management of all your site’s passwords.
Meanwhile, multi-factor authentication (MFA) is like putting extra locks on your doors. When someone logs in to your website, they’ll need to provide additional forms of authentication– such as a code sent to their email or mobile number– to verify their identity.
Don’t settle for just one form of authentication — use at least two or three. These can be difficult-to-guess PINs, security tokens, or biometric verification.
Enhancing Cybersecurity Measures in 2025
Client safety is priority #1 for law firms, and staying vigilant about cybersecurity is key to protecting them. Keep your guard up, be proactive, and have the right measures in place. You’ll be saying bye-bye to cybercrimes in no time!
This article was written by Pranjal Bora who works as a fractional law firm CMO at Digital Authority Partners.