Quick Tips for Guarding Your eDiscovery

According to seasoned in-house counsel attorneys Scott Herber and David Moncure of VIA and Shell Oil Co., respectively, lawyers can no longer turn a blind eye to highly sophisticated threats to their data management and data. This applies to their highly sensitive e-discovery as well.

Now that we're on high alert after the recent hospital hacks, we thought it was a good idea to start getting attorneys back in their "alert" mode when it came to their international eDiscovery.

Best Practices: International E-Discovery Style

1. Talk Softly and Carry a Big Email Encryption Program

This sounds Orwellian, and it probably should. International eDiscovery these days often involves documentation that is in multiple languages and needs to be translated into another language. Many firms do not have a dedicated in-house translator for certain documents and much of that work is contracted out. This, unfortunately, is a point of weakness -- particularly when copies of a particularly sensitive document are sent back and forth via email. You must insist on at least basic encryption of your emails. And if your machine is outside of the United States? It's better to bypass email altogether.

2. Stay Wary of Open Wi-Fi

People seem to forget the fact that convenience is inimical to security, so we'll say it again. Don't ever use open and unsecured Wi-Fi, especially without an encrypted device. If your eDiscovery is entirely on the cloud or Dropbox, you could practically be opening the door to malicious attack and prying eyes. If your firm is involved in something particularly big, the information contained within could be worth millions, and you could be setting up your own company for big problems.

3. Employ Physical Data Repositories

If you're feeling particularly safety-conscious, know that you can always do things the semi-old fashioned way: organizing physical repositories of electronic discovery that physically not connected to the internet in any way, shape or form. Safety protocols will significantly slow down access to the data within and the only way that an organization can combat the slowdown is to have a very fleshed out policy with regards to managing these repositories -- as well as who has clearance to access them.

Related Resources:

• Legal Industry Gets a Forum for Cybersecurity Info Sharing (FindLaw's Technologist)
• It's Time to Get Rid of Passwords: 5 Alternatives to Password Security (FindLaw's Technologist)
• Lawyers: Change Your Password. Now. Seriously. Do it. (FindLaw's Technologist)