IT leaders are under immense pressure to adopt zero-trust principles, implement seamless identity governance and reduce the hidden risks in legacy access systems. Enter tech-forward solutions designed for today’s dynamic legal workflows — and increasing client expectations.
These tech-enabled solutions are transforming access control and identity management for law firms and corporate legal departments. In the process, they are empowering legal professionals and IT teams to streamline operations while prioritizing enterprise-grade security that ensures that the only people who have access to an organization’s systems are authorized to do so.
The Shift to Zero-Trust in Legal Technology
In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan characterized relations between the United States and the Soviet Union by paraphrasing a Russian proverb that translates to “trust, but verify.” Today, legal service providers are adopting zero-trust architecture where “never trust, always verify” is the rule.
Gone are the days when a strong perimeter defense — the strategies and technologies that secure the boundary between an internal, trusted network like a company’s private network and the outside, untrusted world of the internet — was enough to secure an organization. Now, employees, systems and devices must continuously prove their authenticity to gain and maintain access to sensitive information.
Zero-trust mandates strict identity verification for every user and device attempting to access resources, regardless of whether they are inside or outside the organization’s network. Unlike traditional security models that rely on a defined network perimeter, zero-trust assumes that breaches can and do occur. It treats each access request as though it originates from an open network. This approach enhances security by enforcing policies for each individual connection between users, devices, applications and data.
Unlike traditional security models that rely on a defined network perimeter, zero-trust assumes that breaches can and do occur.
What Zero-Trust Looks Like in Action
For law firms or corporate legal departments, a zero-trust approach includes:
Implementing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Protect against phishing by requiring two or more credentials to verify the user’s identity.
Device Security Monitoring: Ensure that only approved laptops or devices can interact with confidential systems.
Single Sign-On (SSO): Provide access to multiple systems through centralized credentials, reducing complexity, controlling access and improving compliance.
Corporate boards increasingly expect legal teams to adopt these principles to secure not only legal IT systems but also client data. The willingness of enterprise clients to trust providers hinges on this commitment to state-of-the-art security measures.
