Cybersecurity
Hackers gained access to ‘small number’ of attorney emails at Williams & Connolly, firm confirms
Williams & Connolly has confirmed that hackers accessed “a small number” of its attorney emails but said there is no evidence of further access to its information technology system. (Image from Shutterstock)
Williams & Connolly has confirmed that hackers accessed “a small number” of its attorney emails but said there is no evidence of further access to its information technology system.
The law firm said it recently discovered the incident in statements provided to Law.com, Law360 and the New York Times.
“Williams & Connolly recently discovered a cybersecurity incident involving access to certain systems on our network. During the incident, a small number of Williams & Connolly attorney email accounts were accessed by leveraging what is known as a zero-day attack,” the firm said. “Importantly, there is no evidence that confidential client data was extracted from any other part of our IT system, including from databases where client files are stored.”
Law.com explains that a “zero-day attack” is a breach that exploits a security vulnerability before a patch or an update fixes the issue.
Williams & Connolly said hackers are “believed to be affiliated with a nation-state actor responsible for recent attacks on a number of law firms and companies.” The firm said it has taken steps to block the threat actor, “and there is now no evidence of any unauthorized traffic on our network.”
A warning issued last month said hackers with ties to the Chinese government have targeted firms, along with software and technology industries. The hackers are seeking information related to U.S. national security and international trade from firms, according to the warning by cybersecurity company Mandiant, a subsidiary of Google’s Threat Intelligence Grou.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
