Press Room Archives - Digital Pathways

Securing Email is Essential

Why mail by electronic must never let down its guard.

Ensuring emails are secure is a concern to anyone dealing with confidential information – which of course, includes both the law and finance sectors. However, today, more than ever, it is important, rather critical, to be aware of the dangers of using the usual email systems and ways email communications can be secured with the use of an encrypted system. We dwell on how this system works, the financing of it and, indeed, its benefits.

Email is an essential communication and collaboration tool for both employees and consumers. According to the Radicati Group, there are currently more than 3.7 billion people using email on a worldwide basis, which it estimates will grow to more than 4.1 billion by the end of 2021. Part of this growth is anticipated to come from the migration of premise-based mailboxes to those based in the cloud. Read more

How to improve security against email attacks and for GDPR compliance

About 200 billion emails are sent every day, but because of its importance email is constantly exploited by attackers, and yet is often overlooked in cyber security strategies

It is not unusual for emails to be used for arranging payments or for submitting identifying documents. “Legal services seem to do 40% of their work on their mobile phone,” observes Colin Tankard, managing director of Digital Pathways.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), set to come into force in May 2018, is designed to protect European Union (EU) citizens’ data, and organisations that want to operate within the EU will be expected to comply with it. Read more

PKWARE partners with Digital Pathways to further UK expansion

LONDON, July 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — PKWARE, a global leader in data security, and UK-based Digital Pathways, have announced a new value added partnership.

Digital Pathways, established in 1997, specialises in data protection and cyber security. The company works with some of the world’s leading companies to ensure the safety of their data and their compliance with applicable regulations.

Information Security and the Legal Sector

Safeguarding their interests against cyber-attacks should be a top priority for law firms.

Financial loss is rarely the most detrimental issue for businesses where cyber attacks are concerned. The legal sector is an especially attractive target for cybercriminals due to the wealth of sensitive information held by law firms. A successful cyber-attack has the potential to cause long-term reputational damage, with severe implications for the future of the firm.

Information security is a substantial risk for the legal sector. Law firms are an attractive target to cybercriminals due to the vast wealth of personal and private information in their possession. Read more

Are you ready for the General Data Protection Regulations?

Data holding is no longer something an organisation can take lightly, it needs serious thought and processes put in place.

The General Data Protection Regulation is the process by which the European Parliament intends to strengthen and unify data protection for all individuals within the European Union (EU). It also addresses the export of personal data outside of the EU.

The primary objectives of the GDPR are to give control back to citizens and residents over their personal data and to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU. It was adopted in April 2016 and applies from May 25, 2018, after a two-year transition period. Unlike a directive, it does not require any enabling legislation to be passed by national governments. Read more

Do you know if your emails are secure?

Of all the millions of emails sent each day, how many senders even think about whether their messages are secure? Traditional email has the confidentiality level of a postcard – anyone involved in its transport can easily read it. Lack of care becomes even more of a problem when the sender is attaching confidential or sensitive data. Is it being sent to the correct person? Should the attachment be allowed? Even if it is all right to send, how do you know it was received, when it was read and has it been forwarded? Current system notification is not good enough.

With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) fines looming, now is the time to gain control of emails. Read more

Cybersecurity: What are Insurers Looking For?

Nicola Laver investigates how low firms can satisfy their insurers that their cybersecurity and anti-commercial crime strategies are robust.

Given that research has shown that cyberattacks on UK law firms increased by nearly 20% between 2014-2015 and 2015-2016, robust cybersecurity strategies are vital issues; furthermore, 73% of the top 100 law firms in the UK were targets of attacks last year. Read more

CYBER SECURITY PRIORITIES FOR 2017

Cyber security is generally agreed upon as a protection of electronic information, the ICTs that support cyberspace. It is also protection in a number of spaces including personal, professional, and even national. Sometimes, all three of these can interconnect into a cyber nightmare because one element was vulnerable to being attacked, which in turn had a domino effect for the others. Read more

Learning from a cyber attack

New research also reveals that two thirds of UK businesses have no official ransomware policy to guide employees in the event of an attack.

Organisations must protect and educate their users, says Tankard

There are many reasons organisations do not follow the latest software releases but what seems to constantly fail, is the “thought process” around protecting what you have, warns Colin Tankard, managing director of data security company, Digital Pathways.

Tankard explains that in the most recent cyber attack that affected the UK’s NHS as well as organisations around the world, the malware was delivered through spear-fishing emails which, when opened, triggered a cyber-contagion on the internal network.

Are You Protecting Your Documents With A Digital Signature?

Protecting digital documents and being able to verify that the sender of a file is, in fact, who they say they are, is fast becoming a major concern for many businesses.

Whether receiving a document from a business partner or downloading software from the Internet, the ability to verify the integrity of a file is crucial. Documents that have been tampered with, or created fraudulently, pose a serious threat. A good protection strategy is the use of a digital signature. This is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital file.

The recipient of a document has reason to believe a known sender created it and prevents them from denying sending it, this is known as authentication and non-repudiation. Like a tamper-proof seal, it indicates that the document was not altered during delivery, its integrity was intact.