About the organisation
Kirbys Solicitors is a well-established law firm committed to serving the legal needs of Harrogate’s people and businesses. Kirbys specialises in property, family law, disputes and commercial law, estates and private client matters.
Steps to becoming Cyber Essentials certified
Kirbys was already on its journey to becoming more cyber secure when one of its directors attended a free webinar by The Law Society. It covered such topics as money laundering and cyber security, and touched on Cyber Essentials certification, including the importance for businesses of taking measures to improve cyber security.
“At the time I hadn’t heard about Cyber Essentials. We had recently invested in IT and I thought it was a good idea to pursue it. I also thought there was going to come a day when other businesses would wake up to the need for it.”
Following a conversation with the firm’s outsourced IT specialist, Keydata Solutions, about Cyber Essentials certification, Kirbys took the decision to strengthen its current cyber defences. The firm’s current setup comprises Bitdefender Cloud Security (anti-virus), Mimecast Email Gateway (email threats and malware protection) backed up by Microsoft Windows Defender. The setup also includes multi factor authentication for remote working, more robust password protocols, tightened admin rights and disabling of ports on all desktop computers.
This included having Microsoft Exchange based in the cloud and Mimecast running in the background protecting against malware. The setup also includes multi factor authentication for remote working, more robust password protocols, tightened admin rights and disabled the ports on all their desktop PCs.
Kirbys found the Cyber Essentials Readiness Toolkit particularly helpful in preparing the firm for self-assessment and sought guidance from Keydata Solutions to understand some of the technical language. The Kirbys team found the overall certification process to be straightforward and obtained Cyber Essentials certification in 2021.
Impact
Having Cyber Essentials has prompted Kirbys to revisit its internal policies and ensure that fully up to date equipment and robust procedures are always in place. The firm has removed personal email addresses from its website to reduce risks and does not transmit bank details over email unless they are encrypted.
“Cyber Essentials has made us all more aware of potential threats to the business and we take these risks seriously. We have a monthly compliance meeting where cyber security is permanently on the agenda.”
Though Kirbys has a limited supply chain, it considers itself to be at high risk of potential future cyber attacks due to carrying out transactional work on behalf of clients.
“The risk is in the money that we transfer to other people. This makes us a target. So we have placed trust in Cyber Essentials together with robust policies and procedures to help us to protect client money and ensure it is more secure.”
Furthermore, having Cyber Essentials has made it easier for Kirbys to obtain separate Cyber Risk Insurance. The firm’s Insurance Broker, William Cooper of Lockton Insurance Brokers, commented that by having Cyber Essentials in place, including email encryption, it sends a clear signal to prospective insurers that Kirbys takes cyber risk seriously and has put procedures in place to combat growing cyber risks.
Final message
As cyber awareness increases, Kirbys believes that more businesses will need, and can stand to benefit from, Cyber Essentials certification to show they have the right protections in place.
Organisations seeking to achieve Cyber Essentials may need support achieving certification. Find free guidance and professional advice on our Help and Resources page.
Apply for Cyber Essentials here.
This case study was generated as part of the DSIT Cyber Essentials impact evaluation. To access the full evaluation, please click here.