A company that carries out research on cyber-security has reported a record number of cyber-attacks on legal firms last year.

Comparitech found that there were 45 such attacks last year, affecting 1.6 million individual records.

Ransomware attacks involve hackers threatening to put clients’ data on the dark web if their ransom demands are not met.

Comparitech said that the legal sector was an increasingly attractive target for cyber-criminals, and had faced “astronomical” ransom demands in recent years.

Eight payments

From the start of 2018 to June 2024, it estimated that the average ransom demand following an attack on a legal firm was $2.47 million (€2.3 million), but the average ransom paid was lower at $1.65 million (€1.5 million).

“Unfortunately, information on ransom demands remains limited, as many companies don’t disclose the figure, and are even less likely to disclose if they’ve paid a ransom,” Comparitech said.

Its figures cover only publicly confirmed attacks. The company estimates that eight ransoms have been paid by legal firms since 2020.