A phishing campaign has been identified that targets law firms by impersonating U.S. federal courts and purports to contain an electronic notice of court filings. Like many similar campaigns in recent months, the campaign aims to trick law firm employees into downloading malware that provides the threat actor with persistent access to the law firm’s network.
Threat actors often target businesses, but a far more effective use of their time and resources is to target vendors. If a threat actor gains access to a vendor’s network, they can potentially use the vendor’s privileged access to attack all downstream clients. Even when a vendor does not have privileged access to client networks, they are likely to store large amounts of data from multiple clients. In the case of law firms, that data is highly sensitive and easily monetized. It can be easily sold on darknet marketplaces and be used as leverage to extort the law firm and its clients.
Over the last few years, law firms have been extensively targeted by threat actors for this very reason. According to a 2023 report from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, 65% of law firms have been a victim of a cyber incident and a 2024 report from the chartered accountancy firm Lubbock Fine indicates cyberattacks on law firms have increased by 77% year-over-year. The main motivation for these attacks is extortion and ransomware attacks. There has also been a surge in business email compromise (BEC) attacks on law firms, as they are typically involved in large financial transactions that threat actors can try to divert to their own accounts.
One of the latest campaigns seeks persistent access to the networks of law firms by tricking the firms into installing malware. The campaign came to light following multiple complaints about fake notices of electronic court filings, which prompted the U.S. federal judiciary to issue a warning to U.S. lawyers to be alert to email notifications that purport to be notifications from the courts. The emails impersonate the PACER case management and electronic case files system, and instruct the recipient to respond immediately. The judiciary advised law firms to always check the federal judiciary’s official electronic filing system and never open attachments in emails or download files from unofficial sources.
The intercepted emails impersonate lower courts and prompt the recipient to click an embedded hyperlink to access a document from a cloud-based repository. Clicking the link directs the user to a malicious website where they are prompted to download a file. Opening the file triggers the installation of malware that will give the threat actor the access they need for an extensive compromise. The campaign will undoubtedly result in the theft of sensitive data and attempted extortion.
Most law firms will be well aware that they are prime targets for threat actors and the importance of implementing robust cybersecurity defenses. Since phishing is the most common way that threat actors get access to their networks and sensitive data, it is vital for law firms to ensure that they have an effective email security solution – one that is capable of detecting and blocking malware and correctly classifying phishing and BEC emails. This is an area where TitanHQ can help. TitanHQ offers a suite of cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions that provide multiple layers of protection against the most common attack vectors.
The primary defense against phishing and BEC attacks is anti-spam software, which TitanHQ can provide as a cloud-based anti-spam service or virtual anti-spam appliance that can be installed on-premises on existing hardware. The SpamTitan solution incorporates dual anti-virus engines and email sandboxing for detecting malware and malicious code in email attachments, even zero-day malware threats. The solution has machine learning capabilities for detecting novel email threats such as phishing and BEC attacks that are needed to detect and block the latest AI-generated threats. In independent tests by Virus Bulletin in November 2024 on 125,000 emails, SpamTitan had a 100% malware and phishing catch rate and only miscategorized 2 benign spam emails.
It is also important to ensure that all lawyers and support staff are made aware of the latest threats and receive regular cybersecurity awareness training. TitanHQ offers a comprehensive security awareness training platform (SafeTitan) and phishing simulator that makes it easy to create effective, ongoing training programs that incorporate training material on the latest threats. Give the TitanHQ team a call today for more information on these and other cybersecurity solutions and for advice on improving your cybersecurity defenses against the most common attack vectors.