Following social media reports that the Lockbit cybercrime gang had hacked the London-based law firm Allen & Overy, the company announced on Thursday that it had experienced a “data incident.”
The attack, initially reported by the Financial Times, comes after seven nations, including the United States and Britain, listed Lockbit as the top ransomware threat in the world in June.
The company “experienced a data incident impacting a small number of storage servers,” according to a spokeswoman for Allen & Overy. Still, the incident did not impact the company’s email and document management systems. A spokeswoman for Allen & Overy stated that the company has seen “some disruption,” but it has continued to function regularly despite this.
“As a matter of priority, we are assessing exactly what data has been impacted, and we are informing affected clients,” according to the representative.
“We appreciate that this is an important matter for our clients, and we take this very seriously.”
According to the website that the criminal organization maintains on the dark web, Lockbit has claimed credit for the breach and has set the deadline for Allen & Overy to negotiate as November 28.
The spokesman for Allen & Overy declined to provide more information regarding the event. Earlier this year, the hacking group Lockbit claimed credit for breaking into several prominent businesses, such as the aerospace conglomerate Boeing (BA.N.) and the Royal Mail in Britain.
In June, organizations responsible for monitoring cybersecurity in Britain and France warned that hackers are increasingly focusing their attention on law firms to steal material that may potentially tilt the balance in court proceedings.
Following the coronavirus shutdown a year ago, the Attorneys Regulation Authority, responsible for regulating attorneys in England and Wales, warned that the increasing dependency of legal businesses on information technology has provided “more opportunities for cybercriminals.”
The cyberattack on the law firm came after the confirmation of Allen & Overy’s merger with the American law firm Shearman & Sterling, which would create one of the largest legal practices in the world.
