tm blog

Are you making dangerous assumptions about local mining risks?

We're testing conveyancers assumptions about mining risks in the UK by asking “What percentage of all mining-related ground stability risks does coal mining account for?”.

The results are still coming in. However, it is expected that the poll findings will support the long-standing assumption that coal mining is the prime ground stability risk that conveyancers need to be concerned about.

Beyond this, it is typically considered that properties across Wales and the North East are the most likely to be affected. Yet such assumptions are causing some conveyancers to ignore the mining alerts triggered when ordering searches against their client’s properties; assuming that they are safe.

Rather worryingly, examples of sinkholes opening up miles away from these traditional coal mining sites are beginning to suggest that this is far from the truth, as recently seen in Cheltenham, Liverpool, Sudbury and London.

There are over 60 mining hazards impacting ground stability in our towns and cities

The latest TerraSearch products from Terrafirma are challenging this perception too. Drawing on Terrafirma’s specialist knowledge in the innovation and provision of mining-instability risk assessment, the TerraSearch product suite analyses coal mining risks alongside an additional 55 mining hazards to reveal a fuller picture of ground stability in our towns and cities.

The following TerraSearch® products are now available on tmconvey to order against residential and commercial properties :

• TerraSearch® Coal Extra is a regulated ‘Con29M-Compliant’ coal mining search offering an equivalent to the Coal Authority report, including a professional opinion of all coal mining risks and CON29M questions and additionally alerting to 55 further mining hazards.

• TerraSearch® Assess is a single search that comprehensively assesses the risk to a site (property and land) from all 60 mining hazards, including past, present and planned extraction.

Both TerraSearch® Coal Extra and TerraSearch® Assess include additional professional interpretations, as well as a TerraSearch® Coal & Brine Report Indemnity Policy up to £50,000 loss in market value of the property (in the event that a conclusion changes based on the addition of new data), and £10 million liability per report in the event of wrong or missing information.

TerraSearch® Coal Extra and TerraSearch® Assess are also supported by a TerraSearch® Alert, which will be available on tmconvey from Friday 20th October.

You can see a TerraSearch® Coal Extra sample here and a TerraSearch® Assess sample here.

Get in touch with your Account Manager for more information.

Don’t forget…

Find out if you are making dangerous assumptions about local mining risks

Take part in our quick poll “What percentage of all mining-related ground stability risks does coal mining account for?” and find out if you too are making dangerous assumptions about local mining risks.

5 Reasons Why Your Colleagues Are a Bigger Cyber Risk Than Your Clients

One of the main issues discussed at our National Conference in London was how your colleagues are an equal, if not greater, cyber risk to your law firm than your clients, especially when it comes to accessing your data, systems and office.

Here are 5 behaviours you may need to address to help better protect the best interests of your firm and your clients from a cyber attack:

1. They assume it isn’t their job to worry about cyber crime

There is a risk that your colleagues simply think it isn’t their job to worry about cyber crime.

There are 2 main schools of thought on this. In small firms, there can be an assumption that they are too small to be targeted by cyber criminals as they don’t handle large transactions, whilst in bigger firms there can be an assumption that another department is probably taking care of it.

The truth is that everyone needs to be aware of cyber crime and understand the steps they can take in both their personal lives and in the office to protect their own best interests, as well as those of their firm and their clients.

2. They are too trusting of strangers entering the office – and even hold the door open to let them in

It is human nature to want to hold the door open to an engineer carrying something heavy, or to help someone in a wheelchair; trusting that they have a legitimate purpose to be entering your office environment.

However, wearing overalls, a lab coat, carrying something heavy, and even using a wheelchair, are all techniques that have been used by cyber criminals to take advantage of our willingness to trust one another – and gain access to areas they shouldn’t be in.

The only way to stop this from happening is to make all of your colleagues aware of these risks and keep them vigilant. For example, training your employees about building security processes, as well as placing posters near doors, and sending out regular reminder emails.

3. Their password is “password123” – and has been since 2012

Password protection is typically a good way to restrict access to sensitive information, however the benefit of this can be undermined if your colleagues are too relaxed about the strength of their passwords.

Best practice is to use a strong, complex password which is changed regularly.

Click here for some advice from Google on how to create a strong password

Company processes whereby passwords automatically expire once a month, or even once a day, can help to ensure that they are being changed regularly across the company.

Also challenge your colleagues on where they are storing their passwords. The strongest password in the world is as good as useless if it is written on a post-it note stuck to the computer!

4. They automatically give temporary workers and interns the same access as permanent staff

From facilitating work experience placements, to supporting team members on maternity leave, there are many reasons for a firm to have temporary workers in the building.

While your core team may want to be welcoming, these temporary members of staff carry their own level of risk; especially if they are given automatic access to all of your systems and data.

Reviewing your induction processes for these new, temporary employees and the data sources they have access to can help to ensure they only use the systems they genuinely need.

5. They give ex-colleagues the benefit of the doubt as they leave the firm

Do you know if your ex-colleagues still have access to your systems? If you aren’t sure, it is worth investigating to find out more about your employee exit processes.

For example, whether or not their access to key systems containing client data, email accounts and file sharing systems has been disabled, and their passwords have been changed.

It is best practice to make this a priority on a colleague’s last day with the firm, or even beforehand if you are concerned about the information they may try to take to their next job.

Whilst it is rare for an ex-employee to use their unrestricted access to construct a targeted attack, law firms shouldn’t underestimate the impact of an ex-employee accidentally losing sensitive information as they clear out their paperwork, or sell on their smartphone.

There is also a risk that unmanned usernames can make it easier for a cyber criminal to log into your systems undetected, as it will look like legitimate activity.

There is no magic cure

While there is no magic cure to protect your law firm from cyber criminals, investing time in developing best practice behaviours in your day-to-day working environment is a key way to help mitigate the risk of an attack.

This is part of a series of content we’ll be delivering on cyber crime, and just one element of the people risks involved.

Stay tuned for more articles and webinars.

Megan Jones

Megan is tmgroup’s Marketing Communications Executive. She is responsible for writing company communications, including blog posts and newsletters.

Just 10 Places Left for Free #cybercrime National Conference

There are just 10 places left for our National Conference “Risky Business: Cyber Crime in the Property Transaction”, taking place in London 1 week today!

Held at the Institution of Engineering and Technology on Thursday 23rd February 2017, this free full-day event will focus on the challenges of cyber security and how law firms can better protect themselves from a cyber-attack.

There are now just 10 places left, so please register while you can to avoid disappointment.

Click here to register

80% of conveyancing solicitors were "definitely more worried about security and risk of fraud in 2016" compared to 2015

“Risky Business: Cyber Crime in the Property Transaction” was developed in response to recent tmgroup survey findings, which revealed that approximately 80% of conveyancing solicitors were "definitely more worried about security and risk of fraud in 2016" compared to 2015.

With this in mind, tmgroup have invited a panel of experts – including the National Police Chiefs' Council's National Cyber PROTECT Coordinator – to discuss a broad range of cyber security challenges, and ensure that all attendees leave the event in a stronger position to safeguard both themselves and their clients.

A variety of expert speakers will address both technology and people risks

In addition to the 3 interactive roundtable discussions, a diverse panel of 5 expert speakers will be presenting on both the technology and the people risks which law firms need to be aware of in order to effectively protect their best interests.

The full Agenda of seminars features:

Mark Payne (InfoSec Cloud) – “Cyber Security – How your frontline team can help protect your firm against cyber attacks”

Mark will primarily be discussing the sophistication of modern-day phishing emails – sharing a variety of real-life examples – and explaining how to help your team recognise them before they accidentally trigger a major security incident.

Jeremy Swinfen Green (Teiss and Mosoco) – “Cyber Security - Managing third party supplier risks”

Jeremy will be discussing how to reduce the risk of having a third party (such as a business partner, contractor, or customer) who has access to your IT systems acting as a bridge for hackers.

Graeme McGowan (BeCyberSure) – “Cyber Security: 2017 and beyond”

Graeme will be looking at some of the current cyber security risks law firms need to be aware of, as well as explaining the huge impact the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) could potentially have on law firms.

National Police Chiefs' Council's National Cyber PROTECT Coordinator – “Cyber crime – How to respond to an attack and support your team in preventing future cyber security incidents”

The speaker panel will also be joined by the National Police Chiefs' Council's National Cyber PROTECT Coordinator, who will be explaining how to respond to a cyber incident; touching on key areas such as Law Enforcement capability (national to local) and reporting to Action Fraud.

Matthew Newton (Oosha Ltd) – “Cyber crime - Dealing with the undeniable threat”

Matthew will focus on helping attendees understand more about cyber crime; specifically looking at why increased IT complexity is good for cyber criminals, and the latest considerations relating to Professional Indemnity insurance and cloud technologies.

Event details

This free-to-attend event will be held at: Maxwell Library, Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, London, WC2R 0BL.

However, there are now only 10 places left, so if you and your colleagues would like to join us on Thursday 23rd February 2017, please click here to register and secure your place.

CPD points will be available.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with Gina Bolger on Gina.Bolger@tmgroup.co.uk, or 01793 714905

Just 2 Weeks Until Free National Conference Tackles Cyber Crime Threat

There are just 2 weeks left until tmgroup’s National Conference “Risky Business: Cyber Crime in the Property Transaction” takes place in London.

There are limited spaces left, so please register while you can to avoid disappointment.

Click here to register

80% of conveyancing solicitors were "definitely more worried about security and risk of fraud in 2016" compared to 2015

A variety of expert speakers will address both technology and people risks

The full Agenda of seminars features:

Graeme McGowan (BeCyberSure) – “Cyber Security: 2017 and beyond”

Matthew Newton (Oosha Ltd) – “Cyber crime - Dealing with the undeniable threat”

Jeremy Swinfen Green (Teiss and Mosoco) – “Cyber Security - Managing third party supplier risks”

Jeremy will be discussing how to reduce the risk of having a third party (such as a business partner, contractor, or customer) who has access to your IT systems acting as a bridge for hackers.

Mark Payne (Infosec Cloud) – “Cyber Security – How your frontline team can help protect your firm against cyber attacks”

National Police Chiefs' Council's National Cyber PROTECT Coordinator – “Cyber crime – How to respond to an attack and support your team in preventing future cyber security incidents”

Event details

This free-to-attend event will be held at: Maxwell Library, Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, London, WC2R 0BL.

However, there are now only a limited number of places left, so if you and your colleagues would like to join us on Thursday 23rd February 2017, please click here to register and secure your place.

5 CPD points will be available.

Click here for more information

If you have any questions, please get in touch with Gina Bolger on Gina.Bolger@tmgroup.co.uk, or 01793 714905

Free National Conference Tackles the Increasing Threat of Cyber Crime

We are pleased to announce that our National Conference “Risky Business: Cyber Crime in the Property Transaction” will be taking place on Thursday 23rd February 2017.

Held at the Institution of Engineering and Technology in London, this free full-day event will focus on the challenges of cyber security and how law firms can better protect themselves from a cyber-attack.

Click here to register

80% of conveyancing solicitors were "definitely more worried about security and risk of fraud in 2016" compared to 2015

“Risky Business: Cyber Crime in the Property Transaction” was developed in response to our recent survey findings, which revealed that approximately 80% of conveyancing solicitors were "definitely more worried about security and risk of fraud in 2016" compared to 2015.

With this in mind, we have invited a panel of experts – including the National Police Chiefs' Council's National Cyber PROTECT Coordinator – to discuss a broad range of cyber security challenges, and ensure that all attendees leave the event in a stronger position to safeguard both themselves and their clients.

A variety of expert speakers will address both technology and people risks

The full Agenda of seminars features:

Graeme McGowan (BeCyberSure) – “Cyber Security: 2017 and beyond”

Matthew Newton (Oosha Ltd) – “Cyber crime - Dealing with the undeniable threat”

Jeremy Swinfen Green (Teiss and Mosoco) – “Cyber Security - Managing third party supplier risks”

Jeremy will be discussing how to reduce the risk of having a third party (such as a business partner, contractor, or customer) who has access to your IT systems acting as a bridge for hackers.

Mark Payne (InfoSec Cloud) – “Cyber Security – How your frontline team can help protect your firm against cyber attacks”

National Police Chiefs' Council's National Cyber PROTECT Coordinator – “Cyber crime – How to respond to an attack and support your team in preventing future cyber security incidents”

Event details

This free-to-attend event will be held at: Maxwell Library, Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, London, WC2R 0BL.

However, there are only a limited number of places and they are already booking up fast, so if you and your colleagues would like to join us on Thursday 23rd February 2017, please click here to register and secure your place.

CPD points will be available.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with Gina Bolger on Gina.Bolger@tmgroup.co.uk, or 01793 714905

Cyber Security Month Highlights the Modern Challenges Facing Law Firms

As you are all probably aware, October has marked National Cyber Security Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness about cyber security.

With the month now coming to a close, here are some of the initiatives different organisations have had in place, and some things we think you should all be aware of.

BLG Bulletin includes scam emails “doing the rounds”

Notifications about fraudulent emails circulating in the legal sector have been featured in the BLG Bulletin; ranging from specific details of scam emails “doing the rounds”, to SRA Alerts about emails misusing the names of individual law firms.

Today’s Conveyancer have also exposed the risk of email fraud in a recent article, referencing an October episode of BBC’s Rip Off Britain which covered two cases of large sums of money relating to property transactions being lost through email scams.

You can read the full article and link through the BBC recording here

More solicitors are adding cyber security messages to their email signatures

Solicitors are taking steps to protect themselves however, and we’re seeing an increasing number adding cyber security messages to their email signatures.

For example:

CYBERCRIME WARNING: We do not notify changes to our bank account details by email. If you receive any communication purporting to be from us, suggesting that the firm's bank account details have changed, you should contact us via the number on our website or headed notepaper.

While surprisingly simple, such a warning on all employees’ signatures can alert clients that they need to be on their guard. It can also act as a visual cue if it is missing from any correspondence your clients receive, prompting them to alert you of suspicious activity.

For example, we recently heard about a large commercial law firm which successfully intercepted an attempt at digital fraud, because the typical signature wasn’t there. This was triggered by a client query and prevented fraud on a large industry transaction.

5.8 million incidents of fraud and computer misuse experienced by adults

The issue of cyber security extends far beyond the legal sector.

Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) has estimated that 5.8 million incidents of fraud and computer misuse were experienced by adults aged 16 and over in England and Wales for the year ending March 2016.

Cyber Europe 2016 marked the most comprehensive cyber-security exercise to date

While some individual organisations are already putting precautions in place, far bigger steps are also being taken to find a solution.

The 13th and 14th October saw the conclusion of Cyber Europe 2016 (CE2016), the largest and most comprehensive EU cyber-security exercise to date.

This large-scale distributed technical and operational exercise started in April 2016, and offered the opportunity for cybersecurity professionals across Europe to analyse complex, innovative and realistic cybersecurity incidents.

Google marked Cyber Security Month with a 2-minute Security Check-Up

In the same week (on 13th October), Google marked Cyber Security Month with a 2-minute Security Check-Up.

This appeared on their homepage:

The Check-Up asked users to review the following 4 security settings:
• Check your recovery information – This information is vital, it helps Google to be in touch with for your password recovery or if there’s unusual activity.
• Check your connected devices – Review the devices connected to your Google Account.
• Check your account permissions – Review the apps, websites, and devices connected to your Google Account.
• Check your app passwords – Review apps password (passwords for apps that don’t use 2-Step Verification).

Organisations of all sizes are rising to the challenge

National Cyber Security Awareness Month has brought many real threats to the forefront of people’s minds, and while it remains an ongoing battle, what is clear is that organisations of all sizes are beginning to rise to the challenge.

Is it time you did more to protect your firm?

‘Trust me, I’m a lawyer’ – the risks of bogus law firms

The number of bogus law firms reported to the SRA over the past few years has increased exponentially.

So much so, in fact, that the SRA saw fit to reserve special mention for the problem in their recent update to the risk outlook 2014 - and yet, many law firms remain blind to it.

Continue reading >

5 things you can do to lower your PII premium

Property remains by far and away the work type that attracts the most claims against solicitors. Over the last few years, property claims represent around 40% of all claims, although this peaked at 60% in 2010.

Due to the high level of claims, it is no surprise then that underwriters rate both residential and commercial conveyancing as the highest-rated work that a law firm undertakes.

Accreditation such Lexcel and CQS will be viewed positively, but the single biggest factor is that risk management cannot just a tick-box exercise; it has to be engrained within the culture of the firm.

Strong case management processes and procedures, case supervision and checklists are all important and, with PII renewal on the horizon, it may be timely to let underwriters know how you manage various risks in the conveyancing process.

There are many ways to help reduce the level of risk associated with conveyancing transactions, here's five of them:

Continue reading >

80% of property solicitors not performing bank account checks

In a recent survey to discover what checks, if any, conveyancers do before sending money to the seller's solicitors, it was revealed that 80% of conveyancers are still not performing bank account checks before handing over client and lender monies.

The survey was conducted at a recent conveyancing CPD seminar designed to help property solicitors mitigate risk and comply with regulatory requirements and was hosted by TM Group featuring guest speaker Jenny Owen from Lawyer Checker.

Mortgage fraud is one of the most significant and costly areas of risk for conveyancers and can put your PII renewals under serious threat. In 2013, the National Fraud Authority estimated the annual financial loss attributed to mortgage fraud at £1bn and lenders and clients will almost certainly have the inclination and right to initiate litigation to claim any lost money back.

Continue reading >

"We bridge cultural and language divides" - Why you should be working with BCP International

Representing a client in legal matters abroad can be a daunting task, irrespective of your expertise in the UK. Dealing with the minutiae of probate and property law in sunnier climes can make seemingly straight-forward cases a quagmire of confusion and can waste time that you don’t have.

Within this space, BCP International Law Firm offers a compelling solution. Based in Spain, with further offices dotted across Europe and Africa, BCP are a group of regulated international lawyers who deliver legal advice in a range of languages to clients across the globe.

Continue reading >