Leading law firms are continuing to send highly sensitive information through easily hackable channels, a leading silk has revealed.

Human rights barrister Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC said it was ‘highly routine’ for hackers to attempt to intercept her emails when she has been involved in cases against certain regimes. But despite such obvious cyber threats – and indeed personal threats against her – Gallagher said firms were still taking huge risks when sending communication.

Gallagher told the International Bar Association’s annual conference in Toronto: ‘I have lost count of the number of times I have worked with very experienced lawyers from international firms who will send you an item with Google Docs or as an attachment to an email. If you are taking a case against Saudia Arabia, Iran or China, do not use Google Docs and do not send sensitive information over email.’

Gallagher suggested that cyber training should stress to lawyers that 'phishing' for legally privileged information is as much a problem as financial phishing.

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There has been no lack of awareness drives to urge firms to beef up their cyber-security and to emphasise the threat of not doing so. A new study published last year found that the number of successful cyber attacks against UK law firms had risen by 77% in the previous year to 954.

Gallagher, from Doughty Street Chambers, said it had been ‘terrifying’ to have faced threats of dismemberment, rape and death against her and her family because of the work she was doing and she was grateful to have received solidarity from colleagues.

Earlier this year, she and other UK-based lawyers spoke out about being targeted by the Chinese state and its supporters in a campaign of intimidation.

She told the IBA that every country had a responsibility to stop growing levels of transnational repression, where governments reach beyond their borders to harass, intimidate, threaten or harm people living abroad. ‘While it is very difficult to tackle those states, it is far easier to tackle the states who facilitate or do not do enough,’ she added. ‘We have got to be alert that this is not a problem far away, it is a problem happening here and now.’

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