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In an article published by American City & County on November 13, Roy Hadley discusses cybersecurity for governments and provides advice for lawyers responding to ransomware incidents.

“Lawyers often touch all aspects of the daily operation of governments and are well positioned to be at the vanguard of cybersecurity. It is important to understand our roles as lawyers in responding to incidents as well as our role in helping our respective governments become more resilient in the face of these attacks,” says Roy.

Among other best practices, governmental entities should have an incident response plan in place, train personnel around cybersecurity and cyber awareness, and have backups of all data in the event a cyberattack occurs.

The role of the lawyer in response and recovery efforts includes, but is not limited to, coordinating with outside counsel, overseeing compliance efforts and assisting with the coordination of the insurers to ensure your municipality is in the best posture to be reimbursed under its cyber policies.

“In the event of a breach or attack, a lawyer’s role will be multi-dimensional and critical to the response and recovery efforts. As lawyers, we often find ourselves on the front lines in dealing with cyber-related issues and it is incumbent upon us to understand all of the issues so that we can ensure that our governments are well prepared. As it is often stated, the issue is not if something will occur but when,” Roy concludes.