OBLIC news, events and updates.

We hope you had a cybersafe holiday!  Ransomware continues to pose a cyberthreat. The Ohio Supreme Court recently reversed a decision of the Second District Court of Appeals in its decision EMOI Services, L.L.C. v. Owners Insurance Company, Slip Opinion No. 2022-Ohio-4649, holding that a businessowners insurance policy did not cover losses which resulted from […]

OBLIC has recently seen an uptick in the number of claims arising out of wire transaction fraud.  Title agents and lawyers completing real estate closings, once a hotbed of wire transaction fraud, have been peppered with warnings over the last several years to have procedures in place to reduce the potential for these claims. In […]

The decision to enter into an of counsel relationship requires careful consideration by both the of counsel lawyer and the law firm. The arrangement can be beneficial to both sides if both are aware of the insurance coverage implications and associated ethical obligations. The Of Counsel Relationship The first step is for both lawyer and […]

This time of year we often hear about gratitude. It’s not just a seasonal concept!  There are very real benefits to practicing gratitude all year long as noted in the article The Importance of Gratitude.  Although a thank you note might not seem effective, it can have significant positive benefits. Gratitude can have professional benefits […]

After publishing our OBLICAlert – “Social Engineering and the Fraudulent Check Scam” (copied below) we heard from two of our OBLIC policyholders who read it and used what they had learned to avoid becoming victims of this scam. This validates our concern that this scam is continuing to circulate and target our policyholders. In case […]

Cybersecurity Awareness Month- Week #4 Media coverage about attacks such as the Colonial Pipeline attack, the WannaCry cryptoworm and the attacks on the Costa Rican financial and healthcare systems has raised awareness of the devastation that ransomware attacks can cause. Attacks on government agencies and companies involved in critical infrastructure have the greatest potential to […]

Cybersecurity Awareness Month- Week #3 Not every cybercrime involves manipulation of the victim’s computer or device. One of the most common cybercrimes targeting lawyers—the fraudulent check scam– uses email to manipulate the lawyer. In cybersecurity, this use of email to manipulate a victim into sending money is called “social engineering.” This week we share one […]

Cybersecurity Awareness Month- Week #2 When thinking about a cyber-breach, lawyers may envision a sudden lock-down and takeover of the lawyer’s computer with a demand for ransom. While those attacks certainly occur, more often we receive reports of attacks that involve an attacker silently monitoring or hijacking an email account while the lawyer is oblivious […]

The Cloudflare Attack October is Cybersecurity Awareness month. This observance established in 2004 by the United States President and Congress to raise Cybersecurity Awareness is led by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) and National Cybersecurity Alliance (“NCA”). This year’s theme for CISA’s Cybersecurity Awareness campaign is “See Yourself in Cyber.” OBLIC is joining […]

Lawyer-Impersonation Wire Fraud Lawyers and law firms have long been favorite targets of cyber-criminals for phishing attacks and wire fraud. Lawyers who are involved in real estate closings or title work are particularly susceptible to attempts to divert funds being wired to third parties. We have cautioned lawyers to protect themselves against these attacks by […]