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As lawyers, we have an ethical obligation to learn about technology and how to safely employ it in our practices. The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.1, Comment 8 provides, in part, that:
To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefi ts and risks associated with relevant technology ...
Although all states do not use the ABA Model Rules as their ethical bible, many do; of those that do not, a number have adopted rules and standards that recognize a similar obligation. In addition to our professional responsibilities respecting technology, we have a personal interest in familiarizing ourselves with technology. We want to protect our own financial and personal information from usurpation by the bad guys, just as we want to keep client confidential information inviolate. The bad guys have gone after businesses of all sizes and configurations, ranging from small "ma and pa" operations to large municipal corporations.
In this article, I address one of the more recent and significant scourges of cyberspace: Ransomware. For any of you that have not heard of ransomware, it references the kidnapping of data or access to equipment by locking out those with legitimate access rights and then offering to sell them a key to accessing it for a fee, effectively kidnapping the access and holding it for ransom. A recent publication online from Wired Magazine () noted that:1
RANSOMWARE IS A multimillion-dollar crime operation that strikes everyone from hospitals to police departments to online casinos.
It's such a profitable scheme that experts say traditional cyber thieves are abandoning their old ways of making money-stealing credit card numbers and bank account credentials-in favor of ransomware.
HOW DOES RANSOMWARE GET ON YOUR COMPUTER?
Ransomware can attack your computer through many avenues. In that respect, it compares to most other malware (including viruses). Potential vulnerabilities include opening infected emails or email attachments and clicking on malicious or bad links in emails, social media posts, or instant messenger chats.
HOW DOES RANSOMWARE WORK?
Ransomware comes in different varieties. The most common break down into three classes of malware:
(1) Those that lock up your screen (screen locking ransomware);
(2) Those that encrypt your files...
