Dr Debra Malpass - Head of Research and AnalysisDavid Bish - Behavioural Insights Analyst
Risk update: Cybercrime
Today’s session
Introduction to cybercrime
• What is the risk posed by cybercrime?
Behavioural aspects of cybercrime
• Results from cyber email trials
The solicitors and law firm market
10,400Firms
185,000Individuals
750ABS
Across England and Wales we regulate:
Introduction to cybercrime
Widespread within the UK
Attacks can threaten firms
operations and/or reputation
Law firms targeted for
money and/or information
Cybercrimes and scams
Hacking CEO Fraud Email modification
Malware Identity theft
Impact on the legal market
£6.2m
client money lost to
cybercrime
164
reports to us about
cybercrime
2018 2018
Email modification fraud - more than 80% of
all cybercrime reports to us
Email fraud reports to us
up by23%
(since 2017)
Why do people fall prey to cyber attacks?
There are a number of behavioural and environmental factors that influence whether we fall prey to cyber attacks
Context Time Behaviour
Cybercrime email trial: Day of the week
Key facts
• 7,295 firms involved
– C2,400 in each group
• 6 week trial period
Results
Does the timing of the messages affect how firms engage with the communications?
0
100
200
300
400
500
Wed 1 Fri 1 Wed 2 Fri 2 Wed 3 Fri 3 Wed 4 Fri 4 Wed 5 Fri 5 Wed 6 Fri 6
Engagement rate over the trial period
Help the SRA!
Could you be next?
You wouldn’t fall for this, but…
Key facts
• 10k firms involved– 3,300 in each group
• 3 month trial period – 3 end of month emails
Cybercrime email trial: Subject line
Initial results
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
First day One month later
Engagement with different email tones
Positive message Fear factor Illusory Superiority
Does the tone of the messages affect how firms engage with the communications?
What does this mean for you?
• Stay aware– It’s a matter of when, not if…
• Complete appropriate checks– A little time now can save a lot of time later
• Raise awareness– Consider how you communicate with your firm
Thank you
Find out more:
Risk Outlook IT Security paper Technology and
legal services paper
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