Law Technology

The Big Underscore - Why Mac Lawyers Need to Learn About Security Issues

By Ross

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about how important it was for Mac Lawyers, current or prospective, to become open-minded and responsible about security issues that affect them/us (”us” as in I’m a Mac user as well - I seem to have to keep reminding some of my audience members of this).

Techno.pal John Simek, one of the best-known legal computer forensic and security experts in the world, sent me a link to an article addressing Mac security issues. Predictably, as Mac market share has increased OS X has become more of a target for bad guys to try and exploit. In part, just they’re bad guys and organized crime who may often fund black hacking is also looking for new victims to exploit. In part also because of the street cred any hacker, black or white, would gain by exploiting the “invulnerable” Apple operating system.

But just as no ship is unsinkable, no operating system is unhackable. Read this article - it’s an eye opener and awareness raiser. From my perspective, it doesn’t matter whether it has happened, but whether it foreseeably could. As lawyers with ethical responsibilities to clients to exercise reasonable care in protecting confidential information, ignore these warnings at your own peril.

This is NOT a Mac Attack. Far from it - no different than I try and report on Windows or other security issues that affect my clients and readers, same here. The era of Mac users feeling realistically invulnerable from malware and hacking is over. Time to take REASONABLE precautions, if for no other reason, than to uphold our ethical responsibilities.

SIDENOTE: I’ve kind of gently dipped my toes into the MILO (Macs in the Law Office - a Google Group) waters - very kind and pleasant reception so far - much different than I expected given the tone of some of the previous public attacks on my writings about Macs in law practice.

Full post as published by Ross Ipsa Loquitur on May 27, 2009 (boomark / email).