In day-to-day office life, email is one of the most relied‑upon tools we have. Whether it’s requesting documents, asking and answering questions, or sending invoices, email is often the default method of communication. Yet it’s also the biggest target for cyber‑crime, with an estimated 3.4 billion spam emails sent every single day.

In family law, the stakes are higher. We depend on email to communicate with clients, share confidential forms, and send sensitive documents such as bank statements. With stolen credentials now the most common cause of data breaches, staying alert to phishing attempts is crucial. This blog covers what phishing is, how it happens, and how to protect yourself; from recognising the early warning signs to adopting more secure ways of sharing information, such as using Quantum Cloud.

What is phishing?

Phishing is a form of cyber‑crime where scammers trick people into sharing personal information by impersonating a trusted source, such as someone they know or a legitimate organisation. One common example of phishing is an email claiming you’ve won a large sum of money and asking for your bank details so the funds can be transferred. These criminals play on people’s vulnerabilities by mimicking well‑known organisations or colleagues, and using subject lines and messaging designed to create panic and prompt quick action.

There are various sub-categories of phishing, which primarily dictate how the phishing occurs and who it targets:

Email phishing: The most common type of phishing attack. Cyber criminals impersonate companies or charities in an email, directing potential victims to click a link and enter personal information or pay for something. Any data entered can be seen by the cyber criminals, including passwords.

Spear phishing: A targeted form of email phishing, where personal information is used to craft more genuine-sounding messages.

Whaling: A form of spear phishing, whaling is where cyber criminals target senior executives and high-ranking managers. These messages convey a sense of urgency, usually to transfer funds quickly.

How can I prevent a phishing attack?

Scammers are constantly evolving with how they create phishing attacks, meaning there is no single security solution to preventing them. It’s best practice to have multiple layers of protection to mitigate any cyber-attacks and to exercise the saying ‘better to be safe than sorry’. These are some things you can do to help protect you and your firm from phishing attempts:

• Be wary of urgency – Any language saying ‘now’ or ‘immediately’ could point towards a phishing attempt
• Don’t open attachments you aren’t expecting – An attachment may appear to be a word document, but if you aren’t expecting it, it’s always best to call first to check what you’re opening is safe
• Un-prompted password resets – Don’t click on any password reset links unless you have recently requested them
• Mismatched email domains – If an email claims to be from a company, ensure the email domain matches, such as a bank email coming from a gmail.com email address. Sometimes the spelling changes can be subtle, such as an ‘r’ instead of an ‘n’
• Send client forms and documents through a secure portal – Quantum Cloud allows you to share family law forms and documents directly with clients through our secure portal, avoiding the risk of compromising client data

How Quantum Cloud can protect client data from phishing attacks

Sending crucial family law forms, such as the Form E, via email carries clear risks, particularly given how prevalent cyber-crime has become. Quantum Cloud removes the need for email attachments altogether by allowing you to share forms securely with clients through Quantum Collaborate. Clients log in to their own Quantum Cloud account, protected by multi-factor authentication, where they can complete their forms, upload supporting documents, and return everything to you in one secure space.

All Quantum Cloud data is stored securely on UK-based Amazon Web Services (AWS) servers within Amazon S3 storage, offering 99.999999999% annual durability of objects. We also hold both Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications, demonstrating protection against a wide range of cyber threats. Our development team works in line with ISO 27001 standards, the international benchmark for information security management - ensuring sensitive family law information is handled with the highest level of care, as it should be.

See how you can securely share your family law forms through Quantum Collaborate in a demo today. Book here.

Sources: ICO.org.uk, AAG-IT.com