Good Intentions, Bad Advice

Cybercrime is up a staggering 600% since covid has become an active member in our lives. Companies are more reliant on technology and the internet than they’ve ever been, and this means ample opportunities for criminals to gain access. From inconsistent practices in the office to poor network infrastructure, the laundry list of means to gain entry by bad actors is long and steadily growing. So the question has shifted from “what if?” to “when?”.

Many victims fit the same profile: they (or their systems) become compromised and they are robbed or extorted out of a large sum of money.  When an incident first becomes realized, victims take the logical first steps and contact their lawyer. The lawyer almost always does what they think is best and advises their client to contact the local authorities and the FBI. This is absolutely a crime and we strongly recommend getting the authorities involved, but what we believe to be the first right move is to contact a company that can immediately begin working directly with a company and help to close any doors and potentially recover what has been taken.  Law enforcement is so overwhelmed and understaffed, there is simply little they can do to assist victims of cybercrime.

Time is truly of the essence and where all crime should be reported, every hour, every day, and every week that goes by and nothing is done internally to begin restoring a customer’s digital assets, means the likeliness (already slim to none) of recovering what was taken is dramatically reduced.  Furthermore, as many companies are horrified to discover, not only are they robbed of monies and valuable data, the ability to continue working is halted.  This is why roughly 60% of small businesses close within 6 months of being attacked. 

We strongly suggest that every lawyer (not just every law firm) have a vetted and verified company to refer to their clients should they require immediate assistance. Along with contacting the authorities and filing a report, the first step should be contacting a company like Betterchips Consulting, so that while the authorities gather details and log the crime, we can begin the process of making this right.  Do not do a disservice to your clients by not having a trusted partner ready and able to assist.